In a hard-fought, back-and-forth contest to begin a four-game road trip, ASU hockey (2-8-0) was on the winning end of an overtime thriller at the University of New Hampshire (4-4-2) on Saturday.
Brinson Pasichnuk, a freshman defenseman with one goal on the night already, scored a rebound goal near the crease to clinch a 5-4 overtime win for the Sun Devils. The goal did cause some controversy, however, as a UNH player was down and appeared to be injured on the ice while ASU flurried on offense.
Nonetheless, the goal stood. ASU earned its second win of the season.
.@TheSunDevils trailed 4-2 with 17 minutes left in the game, but rally to win in overtime! #BeattheCats
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) November 13, 2016
As the Sun Devils traded goals with the Huskies, senior Robert Levin was in net for ASU to stop 32 of 36 shots faced. That being said, the Huskies finished with a big lead in the shots-on-goal category, 36-24.
But it didn’t matter. Each team had a goal in the first, a goal in the second and two goals in the third period to send the wild match to the sudden-death overtime.
“It’s huge," head coach Greg Powers said. "Getting any win, period, is big for our program right now, let alone on the road against a historically incredible program like UNH. Great job by the guys, they fought through it, they never gave up.
"There was never any panic on our bench. There was never any doubt. We felt like we could really win this game from start to finish and you could feel it.”
Though Pasichnuk was the eventual hero, sophomore defenseman Jakob Stridsberg netted a third-period goal — with his team down 4-3 with just 90 seconds left in regulation — to tie it up.
As UNH broadcasters pointed out, that goal came at great timing - ASU was likely soon to pull its goaltender. https://t.co/JQE7rRME4l
— Matt J. Layman (@mattjlayman) November 13, 2016
"When we tied it up, there was no doubt in anybody’s mind we were going to win the game," Powers said.
In the first period, the Sun Devils got on the board first after a strong transition out of their own zone. As UNH looked to set up an offensive play, ASU forced a turnover that went to the stick of Tyler Busch. On an odd-man rush, Busch sent a backhanded pass to David Norris, who then scored his first goal of the season. That made it 1-0 Sun Devils.
Later in the first period, Louie Rowe hit Jason Salvaggio hard into the ASU net and goalie Robert Levin, sending the goal off its moorings and resulting in a penalty for roughing. But that call was negated just 27 seconds later, when Salvaggio was called for interference.
During the ensuing 4-on-4 play, Tyler Kelleher scored for UNH to tie the game at one apiece.
Things were quiet for much of the second period, as there were just two penalties to UNH and no goals in the frame for the first 15 minutes. But UNH freshman forward Brendan van Riemsdyk netted his first career goal with just over four minutes remaining, making it 2-1 Huskies.
For those watching & wondering: UNH's Brendan van Riemsdyk is the younger brother of the NHL's Trevor and James van Riemsdyk.
— Matt J. Layman (@mattjlayman) November 13, 2016
ASU tied things right back up when Pasichnuk got a power play goal on the board, his first of two goals on the evening.
The Sun Devils would finish 1-for-5 on the man advantage Saturday.
Jordan Masters made his season debut and scored the first of two third-period goals for ASU (the second one coming from the aforementioned Stridsberg).
Meanwhile, junior forwards Michael McNicholas and Shane Eiserman each lit the lamp in the third period for UNH.
"I felt like we kind of played the perfect road game the entire way," Powers said.
The Sun Devils will go right back to work on Sunday when they play at No. 3 Boston College. Next weekend, ASU’s road trip ends with a two-game set at Penn State.
Reach the reporter at matthew.layman@asu.edu or follow @Mattjlayman on Twitter.
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