Sun Devil Hockey landlocked the Sharks with a 4-2 win Friday night in the penultimate home game of the season. Jackson Niedermayer lit the lamp twice at Mullett Arena alongside fellow goal-scorers Charlie Schoen and Ryan O'Reilly.
With their win tonight, the No. 20 Arizona State ice hockey team (22-7-6) tied the program record for most wins in a single season that was previously set in the 2019-20 season. ASU extended its undefeated record over Long Island University (16-19-2) to 5-0-0 through three-straight years.
Lukas Sillinger logged his 32nd assist in the second period, breaking Sun Devil alum Robert Mastrosimone's single-season assist record (31). The Hobey Baker nominee has tallied four points in the last two games, recording three in the Sun Devils' 4-3 win over Alaska last Saturday night.
Niedermayer's goal was his second in as many games. It is also the second time this season that he's lit the lamp in back-to-back games. The last time he accomplished it was at the Adirondack Invitational against Clarkson and Cornell, respectively.
Sophomore netminder Gibson Homer made his sixth-straight start and tallied 19 saves. Homer boasts an 8-2-2 record, topped off by his 1.87 goals against average and .934 save percentage through 13 appearances this season.
The ASU seniors will be honored in game two of this weekend's series on Senior Night. Puck drop is slated for 5 p.m. MST. Fans should arrive by 4:40 p.m. to watch the pregame ceremony. The game can be streamed on ASU Live Stream-2 and heard on the Sun Devil Radio Network on Fox Sports 910.
PERIOD BREAKDOWN
First Period
Jackson Niedermayer helped the Sun Devils get on the board first with his eighth goal of the season. Alex Young was able to weave his way through the LIU defense and find Niedermayer in a diving effort to earn the assist. ASU is 14-4-2 when scoring first this season. LIU went on the power play after a boarding call on Tim Lovell and quickly converted to tie the game at 1-1.
Second Period
Both ends of the ice saw action for the first half of the second period. ASU broke the tie after the ten-minute mark as Ryan O'Reilly found the back of the net off of plays made by Kyle Smolen and Benji Eckerle. Not long after, Charlie Schoen fired one home to extend the lead to 3-1 with the help of Tim Lovell and Lukas Sillinger. O'Reilly and Schoen's goals each marked their eighth of the season. The Sharks went back on the power play late in the period and converted quickly for the second time tonight to snag a goal back.
Third Period
Jackson Niedermayer was deep in the Shark's end when he intercepted a pass and slotted one in the back of the net for his second goal of the night to extend the Sun Devils' lead to 4-2.
QUOTES OF THE GAME
Head Coach Greg Powers
On the message heading into senior night:
"Play for your seniors. I know our guys will, they'll come here and the lineup we throw together, we'll empty the tank. We have the ability to send our seniors out breaking our program record for wins and those guys have to be desperate and urgent and hungry to do that. And if we are, I like our chances."
On Jackson Niedermayer's performance:
"He was good. He's an opportunistic player. He's big, he's strong, he can skate. He's always been able to score. It's his ninth goal and coming off a season where he had surgery early, he's put together a nice year. He's gotten better every weekend."
Junior forward Jackson Niedermayer
On his goals of the night:
"I think the first one was all Younger (Young). I kind of just went to the net and good things happened. Second one, I read the guy so I saw him trying to go to the middle and I just cut him off. Luckily the puck kind of stayed in, reaching grasp, then I put it five-hole."
On sending the seniors out in style:
"You play for the older guys and then obviously chasing that win record. Knowing the teams that have come before us and have set the precedent. Just being on the verge of that is pretty special, especially being able to do it at home. I think that would be pretty cool."
Senior forward Lukas Sillinger
On sending the seniors out in style:
"Yeah, we play for a win tomorrow. It's the biggest thing. We wanna break that record on home ice and do it for fans that support us all year."
On the atmosphere in the first period:
"I felt like it took a little bit for the energy to pick up in the building. I felt like both teams were kind of playing neutral ice hockey and it took a little bit of time for the puck to get time in each zone. So after the play started to move on as that happened, it got better."
