TEMPE – The No.11 Arizona State ice hockey team (14-9-1, 9-5-0 NCHC) nearly secured the series sweep over No.19 Colorado College (12-11-1, 6-7-1 NCHC) but the Tigers executed a perfect third period comeback to steal the series split. Saturday night’s 5-4 loss for the Sun Devils is only their second loss in the past 13 games.
With the series split, ASU earned only three conference points to lose its sole possession at the top of the NCHC. With a sweep of Miami this weekend, Western Michigan picked up the top spot for 30 conference points and ASU moved to No. 2 in the NCHC with 28 points.
The line of Ryan Kirwan, Artem Shlaine and Charlie Schoen were responsible for all four of the Sun Devils goals and the skaters each posted an individual +3 plus/minus. Kirwan and Schoen teamed up for a pair of goals apiece, while Shlaine added two assists of his own.
Gibson Homer tied a season high 36 saves, and remained flawless on the penalty kill, stopping all eight shots he faced and leaving CC at 0/4 on the man-advantage. ASU struggled at the dot, winning only 33 percent of battles in the faceoff circle.
PERIOD BREAKDOWN
First Period
The first period saw an overly physical effort right out of the gate. ASU was awarded the first special teams opportunity of the night off of a steal by Bennett Schimek in the neutral zone that resulted in a CC penalty at 4:02. The Sun Devils wasted no time as Ryan Kirwan found the back of the net on a smooth one-timer set up by Noah Beck and Lukas Sillinger to break open the scoring, 1-0, at 4:28. The middle half of the frame remained physical as the sides went back and forth, with the Sun Devils generating a slew of chances. As the period was winding down, CC got its first shot on special teams due to an ASU trip at 18:20. Gibson Homer and the rest of the Sun Devil PK unit staved off a flurry of shots including 9 blocks in the period to keep things at 1-0 to end the first. The Sun Devils outshot the Tigers 11-9, but remained on the kill heading into the second.
Second Period
ASU closed out the remaining 20 seconds of their penalty kill to kick off the second period and get back to even strength. A quick Sun Devil attack led to a tic-tac-toe goal buried by Ryan Kirwan with assists coming from Artem Shlaine and Charlie Schoen. Kirwan’s second lamp-lighter of the night gave ASU the 2-0 advantage at 1:53 in the period. The Sun Devils went back onto the penalty kill just seconds after extending their lead, but once again held firm on special teams. The Sun Devil penalty kill was once again put to the test due to a hold on Kyle Smolen at the 10:18 mark, giving the Tigers their third power play of the game. As Smolen’s minor wound down, ASU reset its penalty kill by committing a bench minor for too many men on the ice. This was the fourth power play chance for CC. Homer once again rose to the occasion, denying the Tigers anything to show for another PP opportunity while keeping his squad ahead 2-0. The Sun Devil goaltender made 16 saves throughout the defensive period. CC overtook the lead in shots, outpacing ASU 16-8 in the period and 25-19 in the game as the score held at 2-0 going into the final frame.
Third Period
The Tigers hit back quickly in the third scoring in just 19 seconds to cut the lead down to 2-1. The Sun Devils wasted no time to even things up in the period as Charlie Schoen tapped home his second goal of the season to retake the two goal advantage. Shlaine found Schoen on the entry pass leaving a wide open cage to extend the lead to 3-1 at 1:43. Chaos ensued minutes later as three goals were scored in just 59 seconds with Schoen netting his second on the night on yet another assist by Kirwan and a secondary assist by Brasen Boser. The Tigers struck back quickly, however, taking the three-goal deficit back down to one. CC put the foot on the gas, keeping ASU’s defense on the ropes and finding the tying goal after an offensive barrage, to put things at 4-4. The Tigers offense continued to have the Sun Devils on their heels as they scored the go-ahead goal at 14:37, giving them the 5-4 lead. ASU pulled netminder Gibson Homerat 18:24 for the final push of regulation. The Sun Devils put the pressure on, but ultimately fell short, dropping this one 5-4.
UP NEXT
ASU will hit the road for a weekend series against Miami.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics- Paige Shacklett
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