Recap by Justin Gaither & Liesl Babicka, Sun Devil Athletics' Interns
TEMPE, Ariz. -- A year ago, the Arizona State Hockey team was 2-6-2 and finished the season with eight wins. Saturday night, they notched their 9th win of the season over Michigan State (4-4-0) to move to 9-3-0.
After outlasting the Spartans in a tightly contested game Friday night, the Sun Devils controlled the pace of play, stayed perfect on the penalty kill, and cruised to a 2-0 victory.
"It's a genuine feeling in there that these guys believe in each other and they think that every time we take the ice that we should win," said head coach Greg Powers. "Players win games, and right now our guys are doing what they need to do to be successful."
The win marked the third shutout of the season for ASU, as they held Sparty to just 20 shots on goal with junior goaltender Joey Daccord having the answer for each one.
"The shot blocks and the d-zone that we play really allows me to play my game and try to control the game as much as possible," said Daccord. "If I can control the game, rebounds, limit secondary opportunities for them that's good and for the most part we won't give up a lot of shots and we saw that tonight."
Much like last night's contest, the game got off to a rather slow start with neither team getting much offensive momentum going through the first half of the period.
That all changed when the Devils penalty kill, which shined once again, killed a Michigan State penalty and as time expired broke out on an offensive zone rush. It was the captain Brinson Pasichnuk who found twine, depositing a perfect feed from senior forward Jake Clifford to break the tie.
The kill was perfect once again, moving their current streak to 10 and vaulting them past Niagara for the title of best unit in the nation.
"We were a lot sharper and our kill was unbelievable," said Powers. "Those guys were just incredible. The power play looked good we just couldn't buy one in the third to put it away but overall I was really happy with the effort."
Heading into the second period, the Sun Devils had a one goal lead and had already killed off three penalties when they got a man advantage of their own around the halfway mark of the game.
Once again, it was Filips Buncis, the unsung hero of last night's game who came through, beating the Michigan State goaltender John Lethemon for the second consecutive night and doubling the ASU lead.
"What makes him so special is that he gets it," said Powers on Buncis. "He is an incredible teammate and he's making the most of his opportunities, but when we win a hockey game he's the happiest guy in that locker room."
"Hockey is hockey, kids are kids and we got back to what made us successful," said Powers. "At the end of the day that's just letting guys go out and have fun to play the game that they love, that's when you play your best hockey."
Sweeping the Spartans also signified the first sweep of a Big Ten opponent in program history.
Next weekend's series takes the Sun Devils to Boston, Ma. to take on the Harvard Crimson. ASU hits the road for three of the next four weekends before returning to Oceanside on Dec. 14th when they host Colorado College.
Tickets are still available for the next home series and the remainder of the Sun Devils home games here.
TEMPE, Ariz. -- A year ago, the Arizona State Hockey team was 2-6-2 and finished the season with eight wins. Saturday night, they notched their 9th win of the season over Michigan State (4-4-0) to move to 9-3-0.
After outlasting the Spartans in a tightly contested game Friday night, the Sun Devils controlled the pace of play, stayed perfect on the penalty kill, and cruised to a 2-0 victory.
"It's a genuine feeling in there that these guys believe in each other and they think that every time we take the ice that we should win," said head coach Greg Powers. "Players win games, and right now our guys are doing what they need to do to be successful."
The win marked the third shutout of the season for ASU, as they held Sparty to just 20 shots on goal with junior goaltender Joey Daccord having the answer for each one.
"The shot blocks and the d-zone that we play really allows me to play my game and try to control the game as much as possible," said Daccord. "If I can control the game, rebounds, limit secondary opportunities for them that's good and for the most part we won't give up a lot of shots and we saw that tonight."
Much like last night's contest, the game got off to a rather slow start with neither team getting much offensive momentum going through the first half of the period.
That all changed when the Devils penalty kill, which shined once again, killed a Michigan State penalty and as time expired broke out on an offensive zone rush. It was the captain Brinson Pasichnuk who found twine, depositing a perfect feed from senior forward Jake Clifford to break the tie.
The kill was perfect once again, moving their current streak to 10 and vaulting them past Niagara for the title of best unit in the nation.
"We were a lot sharper and our kill was unbelievable," said Powers. "Those guys were just incredible. The power play looked good we just couldn't buy one in the third to put it away but overall I was really happy with the effort."
Heading into the second period, the Sun Devils had a one goal lead and had already killed off three penalties when they got a man advantage of their own around the halfway mark of the game.
Once again, it was Filips Buncis, the unsung hero of last night's game who came through, beating the Michigan State goaltender John Lethemon for the second consecutive night and doubling the ASU lead.
"What makes him so special is that he gets it," said Powers on Buncis. "He is an incredible teammate and he's making the most of his opportunities, but when we win a hockey game he's the happiest guy in that locker room."
From there the Devils put it in cruise control, allowing just seven shots in the final frame while killing off two more power plays including a five-minute major.Latvian Luster. 2-0 Devils after this wrister! pic.twitter.com/AcixQKhr4U
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) November 11, 2018
The Spartans pulled Lethemon with just under two to play but couldn't generate any offense with the extra skater. When the final buzzer sounded, ASU had its third home sweep of the season and third-straight win overall.5-minute major = KILLED!
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) November 11, 2018
P.S. - #ASU's PK ranks 1st in the NCAA now. pic.twitter.com/2vMlS8gRdl
"Hockey is hockey, kids are kids and we got back to what made us successful," said Powers. "At the end of the day that's just letting guys go out and have fun to play the game that they love, that's when you play your best hockey."
Sweeping the Spartans also signified the first sweep of a Big Ten opponent in program history.
Next weekend's series takes the Sun Devils to Boston, Ma. to take on the Harvard Crimson. ASU hits the road for three of the next four weekends before returning to Oceanside on Dec. 14th when they host Colorado College.
Tickets are still available for the next home series and the remainder of the Sun Devils home games here.