Three takeaways from Arizona State hockey’s win

TEMPE, Ariz. — Sun Devil hockey continued their win streak to begin the season taking down Northern Michigan on Friday night. Arizona State won by a score of 3-2, here are the main takeaways from the game.

Three takeaways from Arizona State hockey’s win over Northern Michigan

Anthony Dowd

Anthony Dowd, a freshman forward played in just his second career collegiate game tonight, and man did he look good. Last week against Merrimack he registered just one shot and had a penalty in his debut.

Tonight, in his second career game Dowd had just one shot and was assessed yet another penalty.

Although Dowd may not be in the box score as a significant impact on the game, he does much more than score. The freshman has proven through his first two games to be a very smooth and crisp skater on the ice. It may not be very flashy but Dowd skates to the right areas and sees the ice very well.

The excellent career of Dowd is just beginning, and it is only a matter of time before he gets into the box score for the first time.

Special Teams

The special teams for ASU got off to a rough start this season going 0-8 on the power play in their first game against Merrimack. After the games against Merrimack head coach Greg Powers preached how much work they have put on special teams.

While the power play for ASU went just 1-4, the penalty kill was solid all night long. The Wildcats scored just once on five power-play attempts in tonight’s game.

The one goal that the Wildcats scored was a deflected puck that Arizona State goalie TJ Semptimphelter lost sight of. Outside of the one power-play goal for the Wildcats, the penalty kill was strong.

The ASU defense laid the bodies on the line blocking multiple shots in the lane. Additionally, the Devils’ defense was immaculate being aggressive poke checking, and being physical on the boards despite being down a man.

If the ASU power play can come to life, then the Devils will be in a great position heading deeper into the season.

Aggressiveness

A perfect segway to my next point about how physical the Sun Devils were tonight.

If you are an ASU hockey fan, then you know that past teams have not been super physical and hard-hitting teams.

This team puts all of that behind them and hits hard and is aggressive in every single way. Hits are not tracked in the college game online but if they were ASU would be lighting up the box score. The Sun Devils had numerous big body checks sending multiple Wildcat players to the ground and right back to the bench.

Additionally, as I mentioned earlier about blocks, ASU officially had 14 blocks tonight which is a huge number.

Despite most of the players from last year returning it seems as though the mindset of the team has changed on the physicality front. They have learned that if they want to win games or stay close with teams, they are going to have to be more aggressive on the puck and the forecheck.

That is exactly what ASU has done so far this season and their success has come to life because of it.

Arizona State faces Northern Michigan yet again on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. local time. Stay tuned for all the game coverage right here on Sun Devil Daily.

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