MANKATO, Minn. – For the second-straight night, Sun Devil Hockey was toe-to-toe with the No. 3 team in the country through 40 minutes, trailing by a goal entering the third period at Mankato Civic Center on Saturday.
"Those first two periods I thought was a great hockey game," said head coach Greg Powers. "It was a really good, well-played game both ways. I liked how our guys competed and fought."
However, this time the Sun Devils entered the final frame short a man for over four minutes after a contested and perplexing series of events to end the 2nd period. With under a minute remaining in the period, senior forward Steenn Pasichnuk was cutting across the neutral zone to make a play on a puck, and in the process of dodging one Minnesota State player, collided with another up high. No call was made on the ice, but after video replay, the officials determined it was a charge and assessed Steenn with a charge and a game misconduct.
From there, the Mavericks capitalized on their opportunity with two power-play tallies in a span of 33 seconds to start the 3rd period and ended any chance of ASU climbing back into the game. From there, the wheels came off and eight more penalties were called between the two teams in the third period alone. The Sun Devils were short a player for 7:30 of the final 20 minutes and mustered just three shots on goal.
Minnesota State finished with a 5-0 victory.
GAME FACTS:
QUOTES:
"Those first two periods I thought was a great hockey game," said head coach Greg Powers. "It was a really good, well-played game both ways. I liked how our guys competed and fought."
However, this time the Sun Devils entered the final frame short a man for over four minutes after a contested and perplexing series of events to end the 2nd period. With under a minute remaining in the period, senior forward Steenn Pasichnuk was cutting across the neutral zone to make a play on a puck, and in the process of dodging one Minnesota State player, collided with another up high. No call was made on the ice, but after video replay, the officials determined it was a charge and assessed Steenn with a charge and a game misconduct.
From there, the Mavericks capitalized on their opportunity with two power-play tallies in a span of 33 seconds to start the 3rd period and ended any chance of ASU climbing back into the game. From there, the wheels came off and eight more penalties were called between the two teams in the third period alone. The Sun Devils were short a player for 7:30 of the final 20 minutes and mustered just three shots on goal.
Minnesota State finished with a 5-0 victory.
GAME FACTS:
- Minnesota State scored three power-play goals on their nine chances on the night.
- The Sun Devils struggled getting shots through in the game, recording just 14 shots on goal. A heavy factor in that stat was playing shorthanded for a total of 12 and a half minutes.
- ASU freshman goaltender Justin Robbins saw his first NCAA minutes between the pipes in the third period, recording 12 saves on 13 shots. The lone missed shot was a power-play goal.
- It's the first time ASU was shutout on the road since Nov. 24, 2018 at Omaha, and the first shutout since last December against No. 19 Clarkson.
QUOTES:
- "Unfortunately, the referees wanted to put their hand prints all over this game. I don't agree with it and we looked at that on video. Steenn is a 6-foot-4 kid – he's big – and that was a collision. He didn't even see that kid coming and the original call on the ice was a collision. For him to get five minutes completely changes the complexion of the game. Good for Minnesota State for coming out and stepping on our throat and converting twice (on the power play) and putting us away. But it shouldn't have been that way. Our guys deserved better and frankly I'm getting tired of it. I'm getting tired of being treated like this on the road, our guys deserve better, and I think it's a joke."