TEMPE– Arizona State (5-4-0, 1-2) fell 6-3 to No. 4 Denver (6-2-1, 3-0). Despite the loss, the Sun Devils are focused on the new standard they are building.

 

Dave Hakstol was behind the bench for the first game at Mullet Area since becoming head coach of the Sun Devils.

 

During the first quarter, Hakstol was put up on the video board and welcomed to Tempe with a standing ovation from the fans.

 

“Awesome building, awesome fans, and I knew that coming in,” Hakstol said. “I was looking forward to the night and wanted to enjoy it certainly.”

 

Assistant coach Matt Greene joined Hakstol for his first game and was recognized on the video board and welcomed by the fans.

 

The defending national champions are on the road for only their second time this season, after starting on the road by sweeping Alaska Anchorage.

Second quarter scoring eruption

The freshmen got the scoring started when forward Landon Hafele had the primary assist to forward Nathan Behm, igniting the crowd.

 

Denver caught Arizona State off guard, scoring 8 seconds later. From a center-ice faceoff, the Pioneers moved the puck up ice and found senior forward Sam Harris to tie the game.

 

“That’s a tough one; you want to build momentum and keep that momentum, especially in our own building,” Hakstol said. “Very similar, you take the lead to go 2-1 and then it’s a little bit too easy to give one back to them there.”

 

Another second-quarter lead changed in ASU’s favor when sophomore forward Daniel Shlaine had the primary assist on a goal from freshman forward Lukas Sawchyn.

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Every time the Maroon and Gold scored, Denver answered. In the third, tying it back up on a goal from sophomore forward Kristian Epperson.

 

Third quarter push

Denver jumped on the Sun Devils, crashing the net multiple times to start the third period.

 

The Pioneers’ junior forward James Reeder found an opening, with a primary assist from freshman defenseman Ryan Lin, to go up 3-2 with 14 minutes left.

 

Hafele was assessed a 5-minute major penalty for elbowing with 9:10 left.

 

Arizona State’s penalty-kill unit has been at 96.2 percent coming into the game, while Denver’s power-play unit has been 16.7 percent.

 

The Pioneers spent most of the game in ASU’s offensive zone, where freshman defenseman Daxon Rudolph scored two goals on Denver’s power play.

 

The Sun Devils were done scoring when junior forward Cade Littler, unassisted, scored his first goal of the season from behind the net on a break.

 

“It felt nice to finally score one here, so a weight lifted off your shoulders for sure,” Littler said.

 

Arizona State pulled sophomore goaltender Samuel Urban, and sophomore Clarke Caswell scored an empty-net goal.

 

Denver’s blue line showed up in many ways for the Pioneers with their vision and transition game, making it hard for Arizona State to establish in the offensive zone.

 

“If you spend too much time defending, it’s eventually going to wear you down,” Hakstol said. “That’s hard work that’s leading to other guys outchanging you and having fresher guys on the ice. And that’s a domino effect.”

​Arizona State still have positives despite loss

 

However, Arizona State scored three goals on sophomore goaltender Johnny Hicks, tying for the most allowed in a game this season.

 

“Just getting traffic to the net; some of it was quick strikes, getting in on their D,” Littler said.

 

With a day between games, the Sun Devils look to shift their focus to Sunday’s game and pick up a win at home. Puck drop is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. MST.