From the moment the puck dropped in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan ASU hockey appeared to have that fire they had failed to take with them on their previous road trips.
A scoreless first period was followed by a offensive burst in the second as freshman forward Joe Lappin scored once, and then again early in the third to give the Devils a lead, and they would not look back as they cruised to a 3-2 victory.
"Great effort by our guys again led by some young kids that just really stepped up," said ASU head coach Greg Powers. "We'll enjoy this one until we get on the bus and it's back to work for tomorrow."
The first period featured some fast-paced play, a penalty shot opportunity by ASU freshman forward Anthony Croston stuffed by sophomore goaltender Gordon Defiel and two short-handed stints for the Sun Devils, but no goals. The Lakers had the slight edge in shots, 11-10, and also carried a power play over into the second period.
Although ASU successfully killed the leftover power play to start the middle period, the Lakers struck first on a later man advantage as sophomore defenseman James Roll beat Ryland Pashovitz to break up the 0-0 gridlock.
ASU went on to respond valiantly to going down 1-0; scoring two goals in the next six minutes. The first goal came from freshman winger Ryan Stevens, his first of the year, as he barreled into the offensive slot, weaved through Laker defenders and pushed it passed Defiel to tie the game at 1-1. Lappin would add his first of the game - second of the year - just over two minutes later to give the Sun Devils their first and only lead of the game.
With two-thirds of the game behind them, the Sun Devils came out in the third frame looking for that killer instinct they put on display during their previous home victories. It wouldn't take long for an early dagger as Lappin netted his second of the game just 0:52 into the period.
The Lakers would get one back, scoring again on the man-advantage as two Sun Devils were sitting in the penalty box for the goal; the lead was narrowed to one goal, 3-2.
Lappin just missed a hat-trick after ringing one off the bar midway through the final period, and ASU would have to weather the storm of 6-on-5 hockey when the Lakers sent their goalie to the bench late.
Freshman goaltender Ryland Pashovitz faced a healthy 26 shots (just one off the Lakers game average for the season); he stopped 24 of them and kept the Sun Devils in a position to succeed for the latter half of the contest. Freshman forward Jordan Masters continued his point streak, adding an assist on Lappin's second goal and giving him 10 points on the season.
The Sun Devils will have to little time to celebrate their first true road victory of the year as they prepare for game two versus Lake Superior State Saturday at 5:07pm MST.
Related Links:
ASU hockey signs five for 2016 class
Pac-12 Networks to televise two ASU hockey games
Reach the reporter at csafran@asu.edu and follow @ChrisSafran on Twitter.
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