ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Through the first four minutes of Friday night's match-up with No. 13 Michigan, it was all Arizona State as they jumped on the Wolverines (17-13-3) early at Yost Ice Arena. Ultimately, an empty-net goal with under a minute left sealed ASU's (8-20-5) fate in a 5-3 loss.
Freshman forward Johnny Walker wristed his 14th of the season just 51 seconds into the game, keeping his goal streak alive at four-straight games. It also extends his lead for the most goals in program history.
"He's a special player," said head coach Greg Powers. "He has 15 goals as a freshman, and he could have had more. He's finding space and he's playing great."
Four minutes in, Michigan took over, scoring three-straight, unanswered goals for a 3-1 lead entering the first intermission.
"We had plenty of chances to tie it, but like I told the guys, we're done with moral victories," said Powers. "We felt like we could have won that game if we played a better first period. There was a stretch of 10 minutes there where we got sloppy and didn't play the way we need to play. It's time to turn the page and stop making those mistakes."
Sophomore Wolverine James Sanchez was responsible for two of the goals, one being a backdoor tap in on an odd-man rush. The second featured a fortuitous Michigan ricochet off the post and right to the tape of Sanchez, who beat Daccord to the post for the 2-1 lead.
Seven minutes later, Michigan's Michael Pastujov tucked a rebound under Daccord's sprawling glove to extend the lead to two through the first 20 minutes.
The second and third periods were evenly played with ASU flipping the script in their direction.
While the Wolverines netted the first goal in the second period to go up 4-1, the Sun Devils came storming back.
With less than two minutes remaining in the middle frame, Walker was at it again. On the power-play, sophomore Brinson Pasichnuk fed Walker for a one-timer to beat Michigan's Hayden Lavigne.
As time winded down in the third period, and ASU chasing two goals, sophomore forward Brett Gruber put the icing on the cake with his third point of the night to bring ASU within a goal. At 17:57, a rebound off Lavigne's pads allowed redshirt senior David Norris to kick the puck out to Gruber for a quick shot. He ended the night with a goal and two assists for his first three-point night against a Division I team in his career. He now has 10 more points than he recorded during his freshman season.
With just over a minute to play, Powers pulled Daccord for the extra attacker. The Devils created several chances, but ultimately surrended the empty-net goal to Michigan's Dakota Raabe for the 5-3 loss.
Special teams favored the Sun Devils overall, as they killed all four penalties, while also scoring on two of their seven chances on the night.
ASU ended up outshooting Michigan in the final two periods, 23-19.
Game two – and the final game of the season – starts at 7:30 p.m. (ET) / 5:30 p.m. (MT). Fans can listen live via our Facebook page.
Freshman forward Johnny Walker wristed his 14th of the season just 51 seconds into the game, keeping his goal streak alive at four-straight games. It also extends his lead for the most goals in program history.
"He's a special player," said head coach Greg Powers. "He has 15 goals as a freshman, and he could have had more. He's finding space and he's playing great."
Four minutes in, Michigan took over, scoring three-straight, unanswered goals for a 3-1 lead entering the first intermission.
"We had plenty of chances to tie it, but like I told the guys, we're done with moral victories," said Powers. "We felt like we could have won that game if we played a better first period. There was a stretch of 10 minutes there where we got sloppy and didn't play the way we need to play. It's time to turn the page and stop making those mistakes."
Sophomore Wolverine James Sanchez was responsible for two of the goals, one being a backdoor tap in on an odd-man rush. The second featured a fortuitous Michigan ricochet off the post and right to the tape of Sanchez, who beat Daccord to the post for the 2-1 lead.
Seven minutes later, Michigan's Michael Pastujov tucked a rebound under Daccord's sprawling glove to extend the lead to two through the first 20 minutes.
The second and third periods were evenly played with ASU flipping the script in their direction.
While the Wolverines netted the first goal in the second period to go up 4-1, the Sun Devils came storming back.
With less than two minutes remaining in the middle frame, Walker was at it again. On the power-play, sophomore Brinson Pasichnuk fed Walker for a one-timer to beat Michigan's Hayden Lavigne.
As time winded down in the third period, and ASU chasing two goals, sophomore forward Brett Gruber put the icing on the cake with his third point of the night to bring ASU within a goal. At 17:57, a rebound off Lavigne's pads allowed redshirt senior David Norris to kick the puck out to Gruber for a quick shot. He ended the night with a goal and two assists for his first three-point night against a Division I team in his career. He now has 10 more points than he recorded during his freshman season.
With just over a minute to play, Powers pulled Daccord for the extra attacker. The Devils created several chances, but ultimately surrended the empty-net goal to Michigan's Dakota Raabe for the 5-3 loss.
Special teams favored the Sun Devils overall, as they killed all four penalties, while also scoring on two of their seven chances on the night.
ASU ended up outshooting Michigan in the final two periods, 23-19.
Game two – and the final game of the season – starts at 7:30 p.m. (ET) / 5:30 p.m. (MT). Fans can listen live via our Facebook page.