Sun Devils set tone with season-opening shutout
After a tumultuous week, the burning question was how would Arizona State rise above the noise to open their season.
37 saves from Samuel Urban and five goals later, the Sun Devils came out swinging to win their first season-opening game since 2024, an 8-1 win on the road at Air Force.
The first period saw a lot of back-and-forth physical play, but both goaltenders stood tall and matched each other save for save. Ben Muthersbaugh finally broke through to kick off the scoring late in the period on the power play, taking a pass from Jack Beck at the face-off dot and ripping a one-timer past the glove of goaltender Liam Beerman.
Lindenwood took control to open the second period, thanks in large part to back-to-back power plays, but strong goaltending from Urban kept the Lions off the scoreboard. The Sun Devils would grab control back with back-to-back power plays of their own, unable to convert either one. Late in the period though, Kyle Smolen cleaned up a loose puck in front to take a 2-0 lead at intermission.
The Sun Devils started to look gassed at the start of the third, but slammed the pedal down midway through the frame and never looked back. Goals by Olivier Houde (9:57), Nic Chin-DeGraves (17:49, EN), and Daniel Shlaine (19:48, PP) put the game away for good, securing Urban his second career shutout.
The key for Arizona State was special teams, converting two of their five power plays opportunities while keeping Lindenwood from converting any of their five. The other major key to victory was sustained net front pressure, keeping traffic in front of Beerman and not allowing clear views to the puck.
The Sun Devils will be going for the sweep tomorrow afternoon, looking for their first season-opening sweep since 2023 against Merrimack, and their first-ever season-opening sweep on the road. Puck drop will be at 3pm Arizona Time, streaming on FloHockey.
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