Hockey dominates Alaska Anchorage to open 2026 Desert Hockey Classic

TEMPE – Sun Devil Hockey defeated Alaska Anchorage on day one of the annual Desert Hockey Classic with a 7-2 win on Friday night at Mullett Arena. 

In an offensive onslaught, sophomore forward Cullen Potter led the way as he recorded his first career hat trick, which marked the 14th hat trick in program history. The Calgary Flames draftee recorded a single-game career-high four points (3G, 1A) and has scored nine goals in his last eight games. 

Fellow sophomore forward Ty Nash also headlined the ASU (10-10-1, 4-5-1 NCHC) victory as he recorded a single-game career-best three points after notching two goals and one assist. The Scottsdale native tallied a game-best +5 in the plus/minus category in the win over Alaska Anchorage (3-12-0) and was named the third star of the game. 

Senior forward and alternate captain Cruz Lucius continued his strong efforts as he recorded his third three-point game of the season, pushing ASU’s record to 3-0 when he has three or more points. Lucius has now recorded 30 points in 21 games this season, which has him tied with Minnesota Duluth’s Max Plante for the most points among all NCAA Division I skaters.

Following tonight’s victory, the Sun Devils have won four straight home games for the first time since Dec. 7, 2024 - Jan. 10, 2025 and recorded their 50th win at Mullett Arena, dating back to its opening in 2022. 

The Sun Devils will aim for their third straight Desert Hockey Classic title tomorrow night against Air Force at 7 p.m. MST on NCHC.TV. Tyler Paley and Alex Coil will have the call on the broadcast.

Period-by-Period Breakdown
First Period
With a boarding penalty assessed to sophomore forward Logan Morrell, Alaska Anchorage scored on the power play to take a 1-0 lead one minute into the first period. Lucius then netted his 12th goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1 with 16:24 in the opening frame. Just a minute later, Nash buried a breakaway goal to give the Sun Devils a 2-1 lead with 15:23 left in the period.

The Sun Devils got their second power play of the game but were unable to capitalize on the man advantage to extend their lead. ASU held a 14-7 shot advantage heading into the first intermission.

Second Period
Things got chippy to begin the second frame as ASU and Alaska Anchorage each sent a pair of skaters to the penalty box on minors for roughing. As the Seawolves later attempted a zone entry, sophomore defenseman Brasen Boser broke up their chance, and advanced the puck to Lucius who found Potter all alone. Potter roofed the puck under the crossbar and into the back of the net to extend the ASU lead to 3-1 less than three minutes into the frame. 

The Sun Devils managed to kill two Seawolves power plays later in the period, keeping the lead at 3-1. Nash welcomed a pass from Morrell, where he split between two Seawolves defenders to give the Sun Devils a 4-1 lead with 1:13 remaining in the frame.

Third Period
A little over six minutes into the third, the line of Nash, Kyle Smolen and Johnny Waldron continued to dominate the Seawolves. Nash found a streaking Smolen wide open in front of the net as he tapped home the fifth goal of the evening for the Sun Devils to bring things to 5-1. 

The ASU offensive onslaught continued as Potter netted his second goal of the evening on a feed from Lucius to keep the foot on the gas for ASU. The Seawolves made it 6-2 late in the period, then Potter snuck in his third goal of the night to secure the hat trick and put an exclamation mark on a 7-2 win.

Post-Game Notables:

• The Sun Devils’ seven goals are the most by the team this season, and the most since scoring seven at Miami in the 7-1 win on Jan. 31, 2025.
• The Sun Devils are 9-3 all time against the Seawolves, and 7-0 against Alaska Anchorage in Tempe.
• The Sun Devils outshot the Seawolves 43-24, registering the largest shot margin over an opponent this season at 19.
• Cruz Lucius recorded his third three-point performance of the year, marking the seventh of his collegiate career.
• It’s Lucius’ sixth game this season with two or more assists. ASU is undefeated in games when he reaches the two-plus assist mark.
• Cullen Potter’s second period goal with 17:16 was his fourth straight game finding the back of the net, making him the seventh different Sun Devil to score in four straight games. It’s tied for the second-longest goal-scoring streak in program history.
• Potter’s hat trick was his first multi-goal performance and the third hat trick by a Sun Devil this season, joining Bennett Schimek and Cruz Lucius. He notched a career-best four points in the win.
• Since Nov. 8, Potter has recorded 11 goals and eight assists for 19 points. 
  Potter has now tallied 23 points in 21 games this season, surpassing his 2024-25 total of 22 points in 45 games.
• Additionally since Nov. 8, Potter is tied for the most points in the nation (17) alongside teammate Cruz Lucius.
• Lucius and Potter both recorded four points in the win, marking the sixth time in program history– and second time this season– that the Sun Devils had two skaters with four-plus points in the same game.
• Ty Nash recorded the first multi-goal and first three-point game of his career after two goals and one assist on Friday.
• The line of Nash-Smolen-Waldron combined for seven points (3G, 4A) and +11.
• Kyle Smolen recorded his third multi-point performance of the season, and 13th of his career.
• Freshman goaltender Samuel Urban registered 22 saves for his second-straight win in net. 

Quotables:
Arizona State Head Coach Greg Powers
Opening Statement: 
“We had a really good team effort, you can’t complain about winning a game 7-2. We get to play for a trophy tomorrow, which is what we set out to do.”

On Ty Nash’s three goal performance:
“He was unbelievable. (Ty) Nash is such a useful piece because he can do it all. He has skill. People kind of associate the Nash name - no offense to his dad - with just grit and no skill, Ty has skill, Tyson did not. He put that on display tonight and buried some chances. I'm really happy for the kid. He can kill penalties, he can go in that front, he can work. He can, he’s a great F1. He showed tonight he can put the puck in the net and so I’m very very proud of him.”

On what he saw from Cullen Potter tonight:
“He’s special. I’m happy for him because he's obviously on a tear right now after a pretty slow start offensively but we knew it would come and man he's driving it for us. The stretch that this team just went through I don't think gets enough credit and attention. The 10-game segment at North Dakota, two in the NPI, at Duluth fourth in the NPI, at Dartmouth who’s fourth going in today, Denver is top five, and then Ohio State who is no joke. That's a 10-game stretch that this team went through, went 6-and-4 and has us right back in the fight. And certainly no disrespect to Anchorage because they're doing a great thing in building the program back up. The evolution of our program is that we play a tough schedule in the NCHC, and it’s ranked Number one in strength of schedule nationally. So our team is weathered because of that. And when you get the opportunity to play non-conference teams like Anchorage you have to pound them. Our guys are battle-tested and weathered by what they’ve been through, and they’ve found success in that 10-game stretch. That’s given this team a lot of hope and belief in that room right now.”

On offensive Improvements:
“We’re getting to the net. We’ve bought into not being a perimeter team and if we’re a perimeter team we have no chance. Perimeter teams are soft, perimeter teams don’t get to the net. You’re not going to win, you’re not going to score. You need to turn those grade C’s and grade B’s into grade A’s and you do that with a net front presence and you do that with a group of players that are willing to pay the price and make it hurt a little bit and that’s what our guys have done these last 11 games. They’ve been doing what it takes to pay the price. It’s probably why you’re seeing a few injuries but it feels good when you win.”

Arizona State sophomore forward Cullen Potter:
On tonight’s win:
“Our team’s clicking tonight, there’s things we can do better but I think we did a lot of good things tonight and came out with a win which is the biggest thing.”

On a dominant penalty kill:
“The main thing is we are aggressive on the penalty kill and we give a lot of pressure, it’s hard to make plays under pressure and that’s the thing we talk about a lot and our team has killed a lot of big penalties for us.”

Arizona State sophomore forward Ty Nash:
On being able to set the tone for the offense:
“Yeah that’s something we always harp on, in the start of the game getting the puck deep, playing simple, laying the body, and everything else will come after that. It’s been a focus for our team and I think we brought it tonight and have to continue to do that.”

On the pressure of filling in for injured starters:
“There’s no pressure. It’s definitely something you think about losing guys like (Jack) Beck, (Sean) McGurn, and (Anthony) Dowd. Guys definitely have to step up, and I feel like for me, I just have to keep playing my game, playing simple, not trying to fill their role but just try to bring more. I feel like it’s been going well for me.”