#12 Arizona State Falls Short in Overtime 5-4 Against #6 Denver University – The Hockey Writers NCAA Latest News, Analysis & More

The valley has been activated for head coach Greg Powers’ hockey team. What once was a dream to play in a sellout crowd at home suddenly has become secondhand nature with five straight sellouts. On Friday night, the Arizona State Sun Devils played the reigning champions, Denver University. Despite a 5-4 loss in overtime, fans were treated to an excellent hockey game with tons of twists and turns.

Related: Arizona State Splits Series Against Colorado College in Desert Showdown

However, this loss knocked Arizona State down one spot in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) to second place behind only Western Michigan. They’ll see Western Michigan after their series next weekend against Minnesota-Duluth, who are currently ranked fourth in the country.

The Sun Devils still got a point from this highly contested game between two of the best in the nation but fell just short in overtime. Here’s the scoop on the game and other tidbits.

Second Period Showed the Ugly and the Pretty in ASU

After the first period, both teams were knotted up at one apiece, right where they started, all tied up. Cullen Potter had a nice saucer pass to Cruz Lucius for his first goal wearing an ASU sweater, but Jared Wright equalized things at one. Heading into the second period, the Pioneers scored two goals in just over two minutes of play, and just like that, ASU found themselves in a hole.

“I thought they were really good tonight,” Powers said. “That was a hell of an effort by them. They were fast, they were heavy on the sticks, relentless pressure all over the ice, and we didn’t manage pucks well enough to get the win. I love our resiliency to go down three to one to those guys and fight back.”

Ty Jackson and Lukas Sillinger scored later in the second period to tie things up, energizing the crowd, especially the student section, which was loud all game.

“They’re not going to take us lightly, but it was a good hockey game,” Powers said. “I don’t think they touched the puck, and then they scored, so you want to see us execute on that four on three and win the game. It didn’t work, but we got a big point getting that late goal in conference standings.”

ASU had the game leveled at three apiece heading into the third period, which was constant action on both ends.

Third Period and Overtime Showed 24/7 Resilience

To start the third period, it was back-and-forth action for ASU and the Pioneers, but eventually, Aidan Thompson broke the tie and gave Denver the 4-3 lead. The Sun Devils got lots of chances after that and continued to pound goaltender Matt Davis but to no avail.

“I think we’re happy with our resilience and fight back, but at the end of the day, we don’t want to put ourselves in that position, being down in the first place,” Bennett Schimek said. “The message is that we got to come out tomorrow and play a full 60 minutes.”

With 48 seconds left, Schimek tied things up with a nifty pass from Artem Shlaine, who found him in the crease, and the building erupted. Despite a four-on-three advantage for ASU for two minutes in overtime, Thompson scored his second goal of the game, winning it for the Pioneers.

Yes, ASU got a point, and while that keeps them in second place in the NCHC standings (for now), it never feels good to walk away with a loss. However, they have lots of positives to take away from such a contested game against one of the best teams in the country.

Tough Schedule Ahead to Close out Season for Sun Devils

ASU will play the Pioneers again today, and their schedule doesn’t get much easier after that. They’ll hit the road for Minnesota Duluth and then come home to one of the best teams in the nation, Western Michigan. Then they’ll take on Omaha-Nebraska, who sit only a point behind the Sun Devils in the NCHC standings.

This is where we’ll see what ASU is made of and if they can receive a bid into the NCAA tournament, which they haven’t been to since the 2019-20 tournament, which was canceled due to COVID-19.