The Miami RedHawks picked up their first NCHC win in 658 days on Saturday night over the Arizona State Sun Devils at a final score of 5-2. Each team took a series split in the opening weekend of conference play after Arizona State’s 4-1 win on Friday night.
Related: 3 Takeaways From Miami’s First Loss of the Season to Arizona State
The goal scorers for Arizona State were Cruz Lucius and Ben Kevan, one coming on the man advantage and the other five-on-five. Connor Hasley stopped 26 of 30 shots in the loss.
Two RedHawks each scored two goals: Max Helgeson and Ryan Smith, while Matteo Drobac picked up his seventh win of the season, stopping 21 of 23 shots.
Scoring the other goal for Miami was Ethan Hay (shorthanded), which later became the game-winner.
First Period
Just like Friday night, Miami struck early. This time, it was Helgeson who found the back of the net. Off a feed from Hay, Helgeson drove toward the net and snapped it past Hasley to give the RedHawks a 1-0 lead just 2:02 into the game.
A few minutes later, Miami got sloppy in its own zone with a couple of bad passes and failed clears, and Arizona State’s Lucius made them pay, tying the game 1-1 just over 10 minutes into the period.
At 8:23, Ilia Morozov took an undisciplined cross-checking penalty that was upgraded to a major, ending his night early. The Winnipeg Jets and San Jose Sharks scouts in attendance likely were not too thrilled with that one.
Despite being down a man for five minutes, Miami’s penalty kill was outstanding. David Deputy and the rest of the unit blocked shots left and right to keep the game tied. That early five-minute major kill proved to be the momentum swing for the RedHawks.
Later in the period, former RedHawk Johnny Waldron took a run at Drobac and was called for goaltender interference, giving Miami a chance on the power play. The RedHawks could not capitalize on what turned out to be their best man-advantage opportunity of the night. Miami finished 0-for-5 on the power play.
Second Period
Arizona State controlled much of the play early in the middle frame. Kevan scored on the power play off a perfect feed from Waldron, giving the Sun Devils a 2-1 lead midway through the period.
Miami responded quickly. Helgeson one-timed a pass from Deputy right after a line change to tie the game 2-2. It was Helgeson’s second of the night and Deputy’s first collegiate point in his third game of the season.
While shorthanded, Stupka dropped a perfect pass to Hay on the rush, and Hay ripped it home to give Miami a 3-2 lead. It was Hay’s first collegiate goal.
Just a minute later, Smith extended the RedHawks’ lead to 4-2, firing a shot through traffic that slipped past Hasley. Delic and Grimes picked up the assists.
It was a wild second period, and Miami took a 4-2 lead into the intermission after outshooting Arizona State 13-6.
Third Period
Miami controlled the play in the final frame, limiting Arizona State’s chances and staying disciplined defensively, minus one penalty from Nick Donato. Miami got a full effort from the entire lineup down the stretch and did not blow their two-goal lead, something that this program has been known for in recent years.
With 1:12 remaining in regulation, Smith sealed the win with an empty-net goal, his second goal of the night. It was Miami’s fourth unanswered goal after Arizona State’s early second-period tally.
Miami improved to 7-1-0 with the win (1-1-0 in NCHC play), while Arizona State fell to 3-5-0 (1-1-0 in NCHC play). Also of note, it was head coach Anthony Noreen’s first NCHC win in his tenure at Miami.
Miami now heads into a bye week before traveling to Kalamazoo, Michigan, for a series against the defending national champion Western Michigan Broncos on Nov. 14 and 15.
