Recap by Justin Gaither & Liesl Babicka, Sun Devil Athletics' Interns
TEMPE, Ariz. -- In front of a crowd of 3,000 at Gila River Arena, the Arizona State Sun Devils (16-7-1) continued their hot start to 2019 with yet another home shutout win, this time over Boston College (6-9-2) by a final score of 2-0.
The Eagles fired 32 pucks in the direction of ASU junior goaltender Joey Daccord, and as he has so many times before, he stopped them all. The shutout marked his sixth of the season for the Massachusetts-native, who once dreamed of attending Boston College. That mark of six shutouts is tops in the nation.
"It's something I can't explain," said an emotional Daccord. "Growing up in the Boston area, everybody wants to go to BC or BU, and BC was my dream school growing up so it's pretty special to beat them."
While the offense couldn't duplicate last night's five-goal explosion, it provided when it needed to, as the sun Devils cruised to the 2-0 victory to complete the sweep.
The teams were once again deadlocked at zero after the first period. Although, unlike last night's penalty-free first frame, tonight saw six total power plays through the first 20 minutes of action.
Once again it was sophomore forward Johnny Walker who created offense for the Sun Devils, as midway through the second he found fellow forward Brett Gruber wide open in front of the net for an easy one-time goal to give ASU the 1-0 lead.
From there, the story was Joey Daccord. The standout net minder not only saved 18 of 18 shots from the second period on, but he also nearly added a goal himself, missing the empty net by just inches in the final minutes of regulation.
"It's funny because he was skating down the center there and I saw him wind up and I was thinking please be on net so I can catch it and put it down and fire it," Daccord said. "I felt like I got a really good shot off, but it wasn't my night to score."
The penalty kill was exceptionally well for both sides, but the Sun Devils ended a 15-chance scoreless streak on the man advantage midway through the third period when Jordan Sandhu put home a quick pass from Steenn Pasichnuk to help cement the lead and secure the win for the Sun Devils.
ASU's kill was once again perfect, killing all six penalties it faced.
"Tonight, Joey stole that game," said Powers. "I mean we did some good things, I thought we were the better team in the third period. I loved how our guys for the better part of 16 minutes there controlled the play. We played our game the way we need to be successful and I really liked how our team closed it out."
The win marked ASU's 7th sweep of the season -- their 5th at home -- and eighth-straight win at home.
"We know the way we can play and we know what's right and what's wrong," said junior forward Steenn Pasichnuk. "I think our mindset coming into games is you can't cheat the game, you go out there and work hard and give it your all and good stuff is going to happen and we firmly believe that if we all go out there and work together as a team every night then good stuff is going to happen."
The Sun Devils now have a true test ahead of them, as they hit the road for three-straight series over the course of four weeks.
ASU heads to New York next week to face No. 20 Cornell, which is known as one of the toughest atmospheres in college hockey.
Sun Devil Hockey returns home to face American International College on Feb. 15-16. Tickets for the final home series and Senior Weekend can be purchased here.
TEMPE, Ariz. -- In front of a crowd of 3,000 at Gila River Arena, the Arizona State Sun Devils (16-7-1) continued their hot start to 2019 with yet another home shutout win, this time over Boston College (6-9-2) by a final score of 2-0.
The Eagles fired 32 pucks in the direction of ASU junior goaltender Joey Daccord, and as he has so many times before, he stopped them all. The shutout marked his sixth of the season for the Massachusetts-native, who once dreamed of attending Boston College. That mark of six shutouts is tops in the nation.
"It's something I can't explain," said an emotional Daccord. "Growing up in the Boston area, everybody wants to go to BC or BU, and BC was my dream school growing up so it's pretty special to beat them."
While the offense couldn't duplicate last night's five-goal explosion, it provided when it needed to, as the sun Devils cruised to the 2-0 victory to complete the sweep.
The teams were once again deadlocked at zero after the first period. Although, unlike last night's penalty-free first frame, tonight saw six total power plays through the first 20 minutes of action.
Once again it was sophomore forward Johnny Walker who created offense for the Sun Devils, as midway through the second he found fellow forward Brett Gruber wide open in front of the net for an easy one-time goal to give ASU the 1-0 lead.
From there, the story was Joey Daccord. The standout net minder not only saved 18 of 18 shots from the second period on, but he also nearly added a goal himself, missing the empty net by just inches in the final minutes of regulation.
"It's funny because he was skating down the center there and I saw him wind up and I was thinking please be on net so I can catch it and put it down and fire it," Daccord said. "I felt like I got a really good shot off, but it wasn't my night to score."
The penalty kill was exceptionally well for both sides, but the Sun Devils ended a 15-chance scoreless streak on the man advantage midway through the third period when Jordan Sandhu put home a quick pass from Steenn Pasichnuk to help cement the lead and secure the win for the Sun Devils.
ASU's kill was once again perfect, killing all six penalties it faced.
"Tonight, Joey stole that game," said Powers. "I mean we did some good things, I thought we were the better team in the third period. I loved how our guys for the better part of 16 minutes there controlled the play. We played our game the way we need to be successful and I really liked how our team closed it out."
The win marked ASU's 7th sweep of the season -- their 5th at home -- and eighth-straight win at home.
"We know the way we can play and we know what's right and what's wrong," said junior forward Steenn Pasichnuk. "I think our mindset coming into games is you can't cheat the game, you go out there and work hard and give it your all and good stuff is going to happen and we firmly believe that if we all go out there and work together as a team every night then good stuff is going to happen."
The Sun Devils now have a true test ahead of them, as they hit the road for three-straight series over the course of four weeks.
ASU heads to New York next week to face No. 20 Cornell, which is known as one of the toughest atmospheres in college hockey.
Sun Devil Hockey returns home to face American International College on Feb. 15-16. Tickets for the final home series and Senior Weekend can be purchased here.