GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Sun Devil Hockey finished 2018 with a tie in regulation against No. 3/8 Minnesota State-Mankato (14-5-1), but won the shootout Saturday night in the consolation game of the Desert Hockey Classic Tournament at Gila River Arena.
With 29 seconds remaining in the game, sophomore forward Johnny Walker came up clutch as he finished a rebound from Brett Gruber into a wide open back door to tie it at 2. His 18th goal of the season extends his lead as the leading goal scorer in the nation, and surpasses his season total from 2017-18.
After a clean slate in overtime, the Sun Devils went into their first shootout of the season. As the fifth shooter, sophomore Max Balinson stepped up and finished a rocket glove side on Dryden McKay.
"We see what those guys can do in practice," said Powers. "[Max Balinson] doesn't have any goals on the year and this is only his third game he dressed for, but he's really skilled and very good with the puck. We needed to shoot it."
No. 15/13 Arizona State (14-7-1) commenced the scoring six minutes into the game in nearly the same way Walker finished the game.
Captain Brinson Pasichnuk entered the zone before dropping back a pass to Walker in front of the net. Instead of taking the shot, Walker slid the puck across the ice to freshman Jordan Sandhu who tapped the puck into the gaping net to give the Devils a 1-0 lead.
Mankato came to play in the second period, scoring two goals on netminder Joey Daccord to take their first lead of the game, and would maintain that lead into the third and final frame.
With the empty net at their backs, Walker's heroics struck again to keep the Devils alive.
The Sun Devils begin the new year against Boston College Friday, Jan. 4 at Oceanside Ice Arena at 7:05 p.m. (MST), but will return to Gila River Arena a week from tonight against the Eagles Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. (MST). Limited tickets remain for Friday, while tickets for Saturday can be found on the Arizona Coyotes website or Ticketmaster.com.
With 29 seconds remaining in the game, sophomore forward Johnny Walker came up clutch as he finished a rebound from Brett Gruber into a wide open back door to tie it at 2. His 18th goal of the season extends his lead as the leading goal scorer in the nation, and surpasses his season total from 2017-18.
"We played to our identity, really, for the most part," said head coach Greg Powers. "Minnesota State is a really good team, and they played really well in the second period, but outside of that, we played to our identity and played really well."Johnny ******* Walker! #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/AAIhDckFgZ
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) December 30, 2018
After a clean slate in overtime, the Sun Devils went into their first shootout of the season. As the fifth shooter, sophomore Max Balinson stepped up and finished a rocket glove side on Dryden McKay.
"We see what those guys can do in practice," said Powers. "[Max Balinson] doesn't have any goals on the year and this is only his third game he dressed for, but he's really skilled and very good with the puck. We needed to shoot it."
No. 15/13 Arizona State (14-7-1) commenced the scoring six minutes into the game in nearly the same way Walker finished the game.
Captain Brinson Pasichnuk entered the zone before dropping back a pass to Walker in front of the net. Instead of taking the shot, Walker slid the puck across the ice to freshman Jordan Sandhu who tapped the puck into the gaping net to give the Devils a 1-0 lead.
Mankato came to play in the second period, scoring two goals on netminder Joey Daccord to take their first lead of the game, and would maintain that lead into the third and final frame.
With the empty net at their backs, Walker's heroics struck again to keep the Devils alive.
The Sun Devils begin the new year against Boston College Friday, Jan. 4 at Oceanside Ice Arena at 7:05 p.m. (MST), but will return to Gila River Arena a week from tonight against the Eagles Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. (MST). Limited tickets remain for Friday, while tickets for Saturday can be found on the Arizona Coyotes website or Ticketmaster.com.