(Photo: Gabrielle Mercer/WCSN)
With another weekend comes another ranked opponent for the already battle-tested Arizona State Sun Devils.
ASU will host No. 18 Air Force to open its home slate of games. While the Sun Devils will split games between Gila River Arena and Oceanside Ice Arena this season, this weekend’s contests will both be played at Gila River in Glendale.
Record-wise, the Sun Devils are not as good as they were at this point last year. Two losses on the road to Notre Dame, who is ranked in the top-10, were tough to swallow, but head coach Greg Powers thinks this team is in a better spot long-term than they were last season in their first NCAA campaign.
“We feel so much better this year than last year because of who we played and how we played them,” Powers said. “Even Friday, minus special teams, we were right there. On 5-on-5 we played them to a 2-2 tie.
“We took a huge stride, a huge step forward, and we need to do it again Friday.
Top 6 will be counted on
As Powers has put it multiple times, the first two lines will be imperative to the Sun Devils success. While it isn’t set in stone who Powers will insert in those slots, based off of the first two games it should include David Norris, Tyler Busch, and Wade Murphy on the first offensive line. Dylan Hollman, Brett Gruber, and Louie Rowe are expected to be the second line.
Busch in particular should be a player to watch. He scored a goal in each of the first two games of the season and has made an impact defensively.
As captain, Hollman had already been impactful too, assisting on a goal and being one of the few Sun Devils to not commit a penalty.
All six will almost certainly play key roles on both Friday and Sunday in ASU’s offensive success.
Uncertain Goalie Situation
The three-man controversy in net rages on into the second week of the season. Joey Daccord and Robert Levin each got starts against the Fighting Irish. Daccord struggled, but Powers discounted his performance because of the abundance of powerplays he had to face.
Levin was someone who really stepped up and kept ASU in the game on Saturday, saving 33 of 36 shots. Powers had high praise for him, saying that he played tremendous.
On the same token, Powers realizes that they possess two younger goalies (Daccord and Ryland Pashovitz) with a lot of potential.
“We have two young kids that we are going to have to play,” he said. “We want them to develop and play. Joey Daccord came here to develop further into an NHL goalie. He’s going to play and he’s fine. We will figure it out as we go.”
Pashovitz got off to a slow start during spring practices and did not make the trip to South Bend, but expect him to play sooner rather than later, even if it is this weekend.
