Sun Devils drop home opener in flurried final minutes
On an emotionally charged Friday night, the Sun Devils hosted Holy Cross to open the home side of the 2026-27 season. Every fan in attendance received a yellow ribbon with the message "MM #27", while the coaching staff wore yellow ribbon pins with the number 27, ensuring the thoughts of everyone inside Mullett Arena were with Matthew Mayich.
Once the puck hit the ice, it was all business. The Sun Devils dictated the play early, driving the offensive chances in the Holy Cross zone for the opening 5-plus minutes of play. Holy Cross would get their opportunities in the following minutes, helped by a 47-second 5-on-3 opportunity. Arizona State would kill both penalties, playing to a stalemate through 20 as Samuel Urban and Danick Leroux went save-for-save.
The special teams would turn towards Arizona State to open the second, gaining back-to-back power play opportunities in the opening three minutes and one more just past the 8 minute mark, but Leroux stood his ground, frustrating the Sun Devils on their scoring chances.
The third period progressed as the first two did, until Daniel Shlaine notched his team-leading third goal of the season with exactly 5 minutes remaining in regulation to break the deadlock. But with 1:26 to play and with Leroux skating for the bench to get the extra attacker, Quinn McCall notched his first goal of the season to tie the game at 1. 11 seconds later, Ben Riche issued the back-breaking goal for the lead, and the Crusaders held on for the final 1:15 to secure the 2-1 win.
Acting head coach Mike Corbett addressed this late loss of focus in players relaxing at the worst possible moment in his postgame remarks, but issued full credit to goaltender Danick Leroux for his performance, stopping 39 of 40 shots faced.
The Sun Devils will be going for the weekend split on Saturday afternoon back at Mullett Arena. Puck drop will be an earlier 3pm Arizona Time, airing locally on Fox 10 and streaming nationally on NCHC.tv. Tyler Paley and Alex Coil will have the call on the radio waves on Fox Sports 910 AM Phoenix.
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