ASU men's hockey held off Alabama-Huntsville for the remaining 1:18 of the third period to capture the second win of 2017, 3-2, at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe. It is the first regulation win since opening night back on Oct. 6 vs. UMass-Amherst.
Redshirt junior forward Dylan Hollman, the captain, scored his second goal of the season at 5:13 of the third period, tallying on a 3-on-2 break – giving ASU a 3-1 lead.
ASU jumped out to a 1-0 lead as junior defensemen Jakob Stridsberg blasted a puck by Charger freshman goaltender Mark Sinclair on the power play at 7:40 of the first period. It was the first power play goal since Oct. 20, when Stridsberg scored at Nebraska-Omaha.
"I got a great pass from Raats (Joey), and the goalie had to move from the left all the way to the right, and that's kind of a far move, so I saw the right side was open," Stridsberg said.
Alabama-Huntsville tied the game early in the second period as senior forward Brennan Saulnier registered his third goal of the year at 1:45.
"(The goal) just kind of caught me off guard there," said sophomore goaltender Joey Daccord. "I thought we had it, and I just kind of took a quick moment to relax, and it just caught me by surprise. I'd like to have that one back, but we won the game, so that's what counts."
ASU countered when Stridsberg found the back of the net for the second time in the game at 5:40 of period two. This time, Stridsberg found the rebound down low off a sophomore forward Brett Gruber shot and buried it to give the Sun Devils a 2-1 lead.
The Chargers would pull Sinclair, and with the extra attacker, UAH's junior defenseman Kurt Gosselin scored at 18:42, just four seconds after a face-off in Alabama-Huntsville's offensive zone.
In the win, Daccord made 20 saves.
"I thought he was good. He was solid," ASU head coach Greg Powers said. "Neither one of those goals were on him. He's playing really good hockey for us (and) he's giving us a chance to win."
The Feeling of Home
The Sun Devils started November on a positive note after the victory over Alabama-Huntsville Friday in Tempe. The win marked the second of the 2017-18 season and the second home "W." After a long six-game road trip, the Sun Devils will be home for the majority of November as a bye-week and a tilt with No. 17 Penn State at Gila River Arena follow the UAH series.
What's Next for ASU
ASU hosts Alabama-Huntsville in the second game of a two-game series Saturday in Tempe. The Sun Devils have an opportunity to capture their first series sweep in program history. Face-off from Oceanside Ice Arena is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
"The guys have to be desperate and do everything they can, leave it all out there, and hopefully it goes our way," Powers said. "We have be way better at getting the puck out of our zone and stronger on the wall and just better in every way."
Reach the reporter at michael.baron@asu.edu or follow @Michael_Baron96 on Twitter.
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