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Hockey’s second period surge leads to road win over #6 North Dakota

Hockey’s second period surge leads to road win over #6 North DakotaHockey’s second period surge leads to road win over #6 North Dakota
Russell Hons
Box Score

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Sun Devil Hockey (4-7-1, 2-3-1 NCHC) put together a gutsy effort to leave North Dakota (8-4-0, 4-2-0 NCHC) with a series split after a 4-2 (EN) victory over the No. 6 Fighting Hawks on Saturday night at Ralph Engelstad Arena. 

The heroics of goaltender Connor Hasley kept Arizona State in the mix all night. The senior netminder recorded 39 saves on 41 North Dakota shots, the fourth-most saves in a game for the Sun Devils this season. Hasley’s stellar performance between the pipes lifted ASU to its second conference win of the season to put the Sun Devils into a share of fifth in the NCHC through six conference games played.

Cullen Potter got the scoring started for the Sun Devils with a first period power-play goal, his second of the season, which made it 1-1. Mesa native Logan Morrell later found the back of the net on a perfect pass from freshman Sam Alfano to notch his third goal of the campaign and give ASU its first lead of the series at 2-1 in the second period. 

Cruz Lucius compiled a pair of assists, including a smooth set-up on a last-minute goal from Sean McGurn with just six seconds remaining in the second. McGurn’s lamplighter gave ASU a 3-1 lead headed into the third period. 

With the Sun Devils clinging onto a 3-2 lead in the final minutes, forward Jack Beck went to the penalty box for a holding call which granted a Fighting Hawks power play. North Dakota pulled its netminder to trigger a 6-on-4 advantage with under two minutes to go in hopes of finding the equalizer. Senior forward Bennett Schimek then sealed the game with a shorthanded, empty-net goal to cap his third three-point game of the season to put ASU ahead for good. 

The Sun Devils will return to Mullett Arena for the first of two straight home weekends, hosting a series against NCHC foe No. 4 Denver beginning Friday, Nov. 21, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. MST on NCHC.tv and airing locally on Fox 10 Xtra. Tickets can be purchased here.

GAME NOTABLES 

  • The victory marks the first ranked win of the season for the Sun Devils and the 35th ranked win under head coach Greg Powers. Additionally, it’s the first win for the Sun Devils at Ralph Engelstad Arena and snaps North Dakota’s four-game winning streak. 
  • ASU now holds a 3-2 all-time record over North Dakota. The Sun Devils are one of six active Division I teams to have a winning record over the Fighting Hawks historically (Min. 5 games).
    • ASU, Notre Dame, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin and Cornell.  
  • Senior goaltender Connor Hasley recorded his 40th career NCAA win between his time at ASU and Bentley.
  • Hasley recorded 39 saves, which is the third-most this season by an ASU netminder.
  • Sophomore Cullen Potter recorded his second goal of the season in the opening period to break a four-game scoring drought, last scoring against Miami on Oct. 31. The goal was his 30th career point and the third consecutive game the Flames draftee has recorded a point.
  • Senior forward Bennett Schimek recorded his 90th career point with his 12th assist of the season. In the second period, he recorded his second assist of the game, marking the first time this year he’s recorded back-to-back contests with two-plus assists.
    • Schimek’s 18 points through 12 games is good for a share of seventh-place among all Division 1 skaters, while his 13 assists comes in at fourth-best in the country.
    • Schimek leads the entire NCHC with 1.08 assists per game.
    • Schimek notched his third three-plus point game of the season (1G, 2A) and amassed five points over the weekend series (1G, 4A).
    • The three-plus point performance marked the sixth of his career between Providence and ASU.
    • Schimek’s shorthanded, empty-net goal marked the first shorthanded goal of the season for the Sun Devils.
  • Logan Morrell scored his third goal of the year and his first since Oct. 11 against Alaska Fairbanks, breaking a seven-game drought.
  • Morell also added his first multi-point game as a Sun Devil (1G, 1A). 
  • Cruz Lucius turned in his second multi-assist game of the season, while also compiling his fifth multi-point game of the campaign. The Sun Devils improve to 22-1-1 when he records two-plus points in a contest. 
  • The Sun Devils recorded their first win of the season when an opponent outshoots them (15SF, 41SA). 
  • The North Dakota power-play unit came into the weekend as the eighth-best PP unit in the country, converting on 26.0% of their man-advantages. The Sun Devil penalty kill held the Fighting Hawks to 1-7 (14%) on the power play in the series after they went 4-10 (40%) on the power-play a week ago against Omaha. 

PERIOD-BY-PERIOD BREAKDOWN
First Period
North Dakota scored in the first two minutes of the game to take a 1-0 lead. Shortly after on the power play, Cullen Potter netted his second goal of the season off a wrist-shot with assists by Cruz Lucius and Bennett Shimek with 15 minutes remaining in the opening frame. 

The rest of the period saw six penalties total, three apiece for both sides as North Dakota outshot Arizona State 9-4 in the period with the game tied at one heading into the first intermission.

Second Period
Sharp goaltending from the Sun Devils returning from the intermission kept the score tied at one as netminder Connor Hasley made 11 saves within the first ten minutes of the period. However, the Sun Devils took a 2-1 lead late with 2:54 left in the middle frame when Sam Alfano connected with Logan Morrell for his third goal of the year. 

In the waning moments of the second period, Sean McGurn found the back of the net on a pass from Cruz Lucius with six seconds left, sending ASU with a 3-1 lead after the second frame. Halsey recorded 15 saves in the period, keeping the Fighting Hawks offense out of the net.

Third Period
The Fighting Hawks came out of the gates strong and cut the deficit in half with a goal in the first two minutes of the period. Play continued with each side going back and forth, but nothing further to show on the scoresheet. 

Jack Beck was called for a holding stick penalty with a little over two minutes to play. While already on the man-advantage, North Dakota pulled its goaltender to add another skater, now sporting a 6-on-4 opportunity for the home side. With time winding down on the Fighting Hawks last-ditch effort, Schimek intercepted a pass and buried a long-range, shorthanded, empty-net goal to seal the deal and put a stamp on ASU’s 4-2 win.