Sometimes, it’s obvious before the puck even drops that a great hockey game is about to happen.
The clash between No. 2 ASU and No. 1 Minot State on Thursday was as advertised, and the Sun Devils came out on the winning end of a thrilling 2-1 game.
The game was intense from start to finish as it began with Minot State’s near goal just 15 seconds into the game and ended with ASU (17-0-0 ACHA) holding off Minot State’s final empty-net attack.
Earlier this week, ASU coach Greg Powers said he wouldn’t call his team the best in the nation until it beats Minot State (9-1-0 ACHA).
“We absolutely are,” Powers said on ASU being the best in the country. “I think we proved it.”
Coaches from both sides said whichever team wins will be No. 1 in the ACHA. ASU does not play an ACHA team for the rest of the weekend, and with the new ACHA rankings released Tuesday, ASU will be at the top.
“It’s a little more than another win, but we don’t want to get to overexcited about it and let it distract us,” ASU freshman forward Michael Cummings said.
The game came very close to getting off to an explosive start. Fifteen seconds into the game, Minot State freshman forward Brett McNevin found an open piece of ice in front of the slot and beat ASU freshman goalie Robert Levin stick-side.
The puck spiked off the bottom of the crossbar and was instantly covered by Levin. Minot State protested, while ASU’s bench was silent. The play appeared to fool everyone but the ref, and replay showed it hit the bar and was not a goal.
Back and forth the first period went, and the shot-sheet reflected that. ASU led 12-10 in shots on goal, but the Sun Devils also led where it mattered most.
With just over eight minutes left in the first, ASU dumped the puck in the zone to what Minot State thought was icing, but it was waved off. Junior forward Faiz Khan raced behind the net, found the puck then found senior captain Colin Hekle in front of the net. With 8:05 remaining in the period, Hekle deflected the pass into the net for his team-leading 15th goal and the first score of the game.
The second period was more of the same. Just over three minutes into the period, ASU senior defenseman Brett Prechel fired a shot from the point. It deflected off the pad of Minot State senior goalie Wyatt Waselenchuk and right to Cummings, who put it in the net to extend the lead to 2-0. It would end up being the game winner.
“We talked about it before the game, we said we just need to get pucks on net, and the rebounds will come, and it just happened to be right on my stick,” Cummings said.
Minot would not go down quietly, though. It took only 42 seconds from ASU’s second goal for Minot State to get on the board. Junior captain Michael Jordan beat Levin on a pass from freshman forward Jeremy Johnson.
Minot State would outshoot ASU in the second, and after two periods, the shots were 23-22 in favor of the Sun Devils, with ASU leading 2-1.
The third period was a defensive battle from both sides. With 2:15 left in the game, Levin glove-saved a blast from near the face-off circle. It would be the last good chance the Beavers had.
Minot State pulled its goalie with under a minute left, but even the sixth man wasn’t enough to beat Levin. Time expired with six Beaver attackers unable to get the game-tying goal in the net.
The key to the game was ASU’s penalty-killing unit. Minot State went on the power play three times, but was unable to score.
Levin was quick to credit the skaters in front of him when ASU was down a man.
“They let me see the puck, and if I can see it, I’ll stop it more times than not,” Levin said.
Final shots favored ASU 33-30.
Powers said he was pleased with the win, but also said this is not the end of the season and the Sun Devils need to keep working.
“We’re not going to crown ourselves national champs just because we beat Minot State,” Powers said. “We have to continue to get better and we will. At the end of the day this is a great win working toward the goal of winning a national championship.”
ASU has two games left on the weekend, Friday and Saturday against non-ACHA Williston State. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. both nights at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe.
Reach the reporter at justin.emerson@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @J15Emerson
