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ASU men's hockey splits away series with Michigan Tech

The Sun Devils grab a 2-1 overtime win to break a losing streak, but then fall 5-3 to the Huskies

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ASU freshman forward Johnny Walker (7) attempts to flick the puck over Princeton freshman forward Mark Paolini (5) in the first period of a game against Princeton on Saturday, December 9, 2017 at the Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe, Arizona. ASU won in overtime 4-3.


ASU men’s hockey (8-19-5) took on Michigan Tech (16-14-5) this weekend in a rematch from the Ice Vegas Invitational Championship.

The first game on Friday was a success, as the Sun Devils won the game 2-1 in overtime after two straight overtime losses against Yale.

This win also broke ASU’s five game losing streak that started almost a month ago on January 20 against Quinnipiac. 

With success against the Huskies once again, ASU moved into Saturday’s game with a win, but ultimately lost 5-3 and split the series with Michigan Tech. 

Michigan Tech struck first as junior forward Jake Lucchini capitalized on the Huskies’ only power play of the first period. 

The Huskies led until ASU freshman right wing Johnny Walker scored off a rebound with assists from sophomore centerman Brett Gruber and redshirt senior left wing David Norris at the beginning of the second period.

This marks Walker’s 11th goal of the season, as he continues to grow the record for goals scored by a freshman.  

The 1-1 tie prevailed and the game progressed into overtime. The Sun Devils did not let this one pass them by as freshman defenseman Jacob Wilson scored with an assist from sophomore defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk

The trend of ties continued through the first period of the second game until Pasichnuk scored with assists from Norris and Walker with 16 seconds remaining. 

In the second period, Michigan Tech’s senior defenseman Mark Auk scored on a 5-on-3 power play that lasted close to a minute and shortly after, senior forward Joel L’Esperance scored on another lengthy 5-on-3 opportunity. 

The Huskies scored again, right after as senior forward Dylan Steman scored after the puck deflected off of the skate of a Sun Devil. 

The end of the period was when ASU found success again, as Walker scored with 8.5 secs left in the second period with an assist from junior centerman Anthony Croston

Walker scored again in the third period with an assist from Gruber. Additionally, this game was Walker’s first three-point game of his collegiate career and he now has goals in three straight games. 

The Huskies soon took the lead with their fourth goal from sophomore forward Gavin Gould, who took advantage of a bad turnover by the Sun Devils. 

Michigan Tech’s next goal came from junior defenseman Dane Birks, resulting from a bad bounce off the glass after ASU sophomore goalie Joey Daccord tried to get rid of the puck.

The rivalry with Michigan Tech will continue, but the Sun Devils still have a commanding season win over them as they have won three out of four games against the Huskies.


Reach the reporter at pburnell@asu.edu or follow @paige_burnell on Twitter.   

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