GLENDALE, Ariz. – After being held scoreless in game one at Gila River Arena, the Sun Devil men's hockey team came out firing in a down-to-the-wire finish against Penn State in front of 3,000-plus on Saturday night in Glendale.
ASU sophomore forward Brett Gruber gave the Devils (2-8-2) their first lead of the weekend less than two minutes into the game, with freshmen Johnny Walker and Dominic Garcia picking up the assists – Garcia's first point of his NCAA career.
"It's a measurement," said head coach Greg Powers. "We never want to get scored on in the first two or the last two minutes in the period since it is such a killer. Tonight, we were down going into the third. Last night we were down two going into the third, and we felt tonight that we could come back and win this game. I feel like our guys left everything on the ice, they had a really good, hard third period with tons of pressure on them in the last five minutes. It's tough to overcome those goals."
Nearly five minutes later, Penn State (7-7-0) responded with two goals in 26 seconds for a 2-1 lead entering the second period.
Sophomore goaltender Joey Daccord again stood on his head for a majority of the game, making key save after key save to keep the Sun Devils in the game. One in particular came late in the third period during a Nittany Lion power-play, where Daccord rattled off three-straight saves. The final one was a highlight-reel, reach back glove save at the goal line that kept the game at 2-1.
By the end of the evening, Daccord posted 45 saves on 48 shots – his third game in the last five starts with 40-plus saves.
In the second period, Penn State capitalized on a fluke rebound that popped right to Derian Hamilton with just 47 seconds left in the second period.
Just went the game seemed to be out of reach, sophomore forward Tyler Busch netted his third goal of the season halfway through the third period to cut the deficit in half.
The Devils were flurrying in the final 10 minutes, and had a grade 'A' chance in front of Penn State goaltender Peyton Jones. A shot came off Jones and several put backs in front just couldn't find its way passed the bodies sprawled out in front.
With just under two minutes to go, Powers pulled Daccord as the puck entered the Nittany Lion zone. An ASU defenseman took a pass at the top of the zone, but it kicked up over their stick and out, giving Penn State's Brett Murray the open net goal and sealing the game, 4-2.
ASU hits the road again, as they travel to Worcester, Mass. for a two-game series against Holy Cross.
ASU sophomore forward Brett Gruber gave the Devils (2-8-2) their first lead of the weekend less than two minutes into the game, with freshmen Johnny Walker and Dominic Garcia picking up the assists – Garcia's first point of his NCAA career.
"It's a measurement," said head coach Greg Powers. "We never want to get scored on in the first two or the last two minutes in the period since it is such a killer. Tonight, we were down going into the third. Last night we were down two going into the third, and we felt tonight that we could come back and win this game. I feel like our guys left everything on the ice, they had a really good, hard third period with tons of pressure on them in the last five minutes. It's tough to overcome those goals."
Nearly five minutes later, Penn State (7-7-0) responded with two goals in 26 seconds for a 2-1 lead entering the second period.
Sophomore goaltender Joey Daccord again stood on his head for a majority of the game, making key save after key save to keep the Sun Devils in the game. One in particular came late in the third period during a Nittany Lion power-play, where Daccord rattled off three-straight saves. The final one was a highlight-reel, reach back glove save at the goal line that kept the game at 2-1.
By the end of the evening, Daccord posted 45 saves on 48 shots – his third game in the last five starts with 40-plus saves.
In the second period, Penn State capitalized on a fluke rebound that popped right to Derian Hamilton with just 47 seconds left in the second period.
Just went the game seemed to be out of reach, sophomore forward Tyler Busch netted his third goal of the season halfway through the third period to cut the deficit in half.
The Devils were flurrying in the final 10 minutes, and had a grade 'A' chance in front of Penn State goaltender Peyton Jones. A shot came off Jones and several put backs in front just couldn't find its way passed the bodies sprawled out in front.
With just under two minutes to go, Powers pulled Daccord as the puck entered the Nittany Lion zone. An ASU defenseman took a pass at the top of the zone, but it kicked up over their stick and out, giving Penn State's Brett Murray the open net goal and sealing the game, 4-2.
ASU hits the road again, as they travel to Worcester, Mass. for a two-game series against Holy Cross.