The Huskies (16-14-5, 11-10-5 WCHA) and the Arizona State Sun Devils (8-19-5) have already faced each other this season in the Ice Vegas Invitational championship game, and things didn’t go the way the Huskies probably would have liked, losing to the Sun Devils 3-2. This past weekend, the Sun Devils trekked up to the snow-covered Copper Country for a two-game series against the Huskies. The Sun Devils got the best of the Huskies Friday night, defeating MTU in overtime 2-1. However, the Huskies came roaring back Saturday night to defeat the Sun Devils 5-3. Following Tech’s win Saturday, MTU head coach Joe Shawhan went to talk with the ASU head Coach Greg Powers, but a brawl broke out between the coaches after Powers called Shawhan “bush league” and having “unacceptable behavior,” resulting in most players from both teams fighting at center ice. Thankfully the incident was quickly resolved.
Friday, Feb. 16, Shawhan gave the start in net to senior Devin Kero. There wasn’t very much action for most of the period, until the Sun Devils received the first penalty of the game at the 12:23 mark for hooking. 26 seconds into the penalty, junior Jake Lucchini would discover the back of the net for the 1-0 lead for the Huskies, assisted by sophomore Gavin Gould and senior Mark Auk.
The second period was full of more action than the first as the Sun Devils tied it up 1-1, slipping the puck past Kero. Five minutes later the Huskies received their only penalty of the game, assessed to sophomore Raymond Brice for tripping. Thankfully the Huskies defense held off the Sun Devils on the penalty kill. Arizona State received two more penalties, but unfortunately the Huskies weren’t able to capitalize on the man advantage.
The third period produced no action whatsoever, as there were no penalties, and no goals, resulting in overtime. The Sun Devils netted the game-winning goal just 2:24 into the overtime, resulting in a 2-1 win for the Sun Devils.
Kero stopped 21 shots on goal for the Huskies on the night, while the Huskies outshot the Sun Devils 40-23. Tech went 1-3 on the powerplay, while they only spend two minutes in the penalty box on one penalty.
Saturday, Feb. 17, was a game completely different than Friday night’s game. The first period didn’t have much action, until 16 seconds left in the period, as the Sun Devils notched up a goal to go into the first intermission up 1-0.
The game got more intense between the teams the longer the game went on. The Huskies freshman, Seamus Donohue received a penalty just 26 seconds into the game for interference. Thankfully the Huskies were able to kill off the Sun Devils powerplay. The Sun Devils got two penalties less than 45 seconds from each other. 30 seconds later, Auk flew the puck into the back of the Sun Devil net to tie the game at one, assisted by Donohue and Lucchini.
The Sun Devils received another two penalties just a minute and five seconds from each other. Senior Joel L’Esperance put the puck in the back of the net to give the Huskies the 2-1 lead, assisted by Auk and Kero. A minute and 40 seconds later senior Dylan Steman put the Huskies up 3-1, assisted by freshmen Justin Misiak and Mitch Meek. However, Steman received a penalty for slashing at the 18:38 mark, and the Sun Devils were able to capitalize with nine seconds left in the period to make it 3-2 MTU to end the second.
The Sun Devils tied up the game at three apiece just 3:37 into the third period. However, just three minutes later Gould put the Huskies back up on the Sun Devils to make it 4-3 Tech at the 6:39 mark, assisted by L’Esperance. 14 seconds later, junior Dane Birks put the Huskies up 5-3, assisted by Steman. The game ended in a ten-minute game misconduct on Arizona State after the fight broke out.
Kero made 20 saves in net, while the Huskies again tremendously outshot the Sun Devils 45-23. Tech went 2-8 on the powerplay, while spending 20 minutes in the penalty box on ten penalties, whereas Arizona State spend 39 minutes in the penalty box on 14 penalties.
The Huskies will be back in action this Friday and Saturday as they have a home and home series against arch-rival the Northern Michigan Wildcats (20-11-3, 26-16-5 WCHA) in the final series of the regular season. The Huskies will be in Marquette Friday night with the puck drop at 7 p.m., and the final game of the regular season will take place in the Mac Saturday night with the puck drop at 7:07 p.m. The Huskies and Wildcats split earlier in the season with both teams winning in their home arenas, Tech winning 4-1 Friday, and NMU winning 4-0 Saturday.
