(Duluth, MN) The No. 10 Arizona State ice hockey team (17-11-2, 12-7-1 NCHC) collected a shootout win and 3-3 tie over Minnesota Duluth (11-15-2, 7-10-1 NCHC) on Saturday night at AMSOIL Arena. Senior winger Ryan Kirwan scored the winner and graduate center Artem Shlaine scored two of ASU’s three goals in regulation.
The shootout win gave ASU two points in the conference standings, and three over the course of the weekend, to nab sole possession of the second place spot in the chase for the Penrose Cup. ASU is five short of conference leader Western Michigan, who it hosts next weekend at Mullett Arena. Omaha dropped two points below ASU and into third place.
Artem Shlaine tallied two goals for the Sun Devils to reach 24 points in the past 13 consecutive games. He improved to a 1.29 points per game player and boasts four multi-goal games this season.
Gibson Homer made his 13th appearance this season with 32 saves and a record of 6-4-2. His season goals against average is 2.64 with a .913 save percentage.
PERIOD BREAKDOWNw
First Period
UMD scored the quickest goal by an ASU opponent this season, at 2:52 in the first period to take the early 1-0 lead. The previous quickest goal by an opponent this season was 3:51 in the first by No. 6 Denver last weekend. Eight minutes later, ASU responded with a goal by Artem Shlaine in a nifty battle at the UMD crease. He was assisted by Ryan Kirwan and Anthony Dowd. The shots were tied 9-9 and ASU would start the second period with residual power play time remaining.
Second Period
After killing off ASU’s power play, UMD once again struck first, tallying a goal for the 2-1 lead nearly six minutes into play. ASU answered back and then some with an even strength goal by Kyle Smolen, assisted by Lukas Sillinger at 8:55 in the period. ASU enjoyed its third power play of the night starting at 12:56 in the period and this time Artem Shlaine capitalized with an assist by Lukas Sillinger. ASU popped off in the shot category, nailing 20 on net in the 20 minute period compared to UMD’s 10.
Third Period
For the third time on the night, UMD scored within the first three minutes of play, but this time the goal tied the game at 3-3. Two minutes into the period, Kyle Smolen was called for tripping, but not 10 seconds into the kill, UMD was also assessed a tripping penalty to make way for 4-on-4 hockey. With 42 seconds remaining of 4-on-4, the Bulldogs went to the box again to give the Sun Devils a 4-on-3 advantage. Despite its chances, ASU couldn’t capitalize. Three minutes later, UMD was assessed two penalties to give ASU a 5-on-3 advantage, but the Bulldogs successfully killed off the Sun Devil chance. The next 10 minutes saw both team play unpenalized and in an effort to end the game in regulation to no avail.
Overtime
Both sides rifled their fair share of chances, but netminders stood strong against the onslaught. With 17 seconds remaining in the five-minute 3-on-3 overtime, Noah Beck was called for slashing to bring the remainder of overtime to a 4-on-3 competition. ASU staved off UMD’s attempts to claim another overtime win. The game finished as a 3-3 NCAA tie with ASU collecting the shootout win.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Paige Shacklett
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