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Arizona State comes to Connecticut this weekend for three games. Tomorrow night at Quinnipiac, Friday versus UConn, and Saturday against Sacred Heart in Danbury. The Sun Devils have come out of the gate playing pretty well considering it is their first year at the D-1 level. After losing in overtime to Anchorage on Friday in Alaska, they turned around the next night and beat Alaska-Fairbanks. Although they were outshoot 40-23 Friday and 38-26 the following night, they put in two solid performances.
After UConn came out against Huntsville on Friday with a really solid performance and had a dominating third period, the team's performance on Saturday was lackluster, to say the least. Even though it was the second game of the season, I would consider Saturday's lost a bad lost. Even without Nichols in net, the team should be able to beat a team like Huntsville.
Is Friday nights game a "must" win? No. Is it a "definitely should" win? Yes. A legitimate team in Hockey East should not lose a game against a team in just their fourth D-1 game. I would expect UConn to have a comfortable victory, which includes controlling puck possession and zone time, especially since ASU is playing Quinnipiac the night before. (It will be interesting to see how a top twenty team like Quinnipiac handles ASU.) I think one big thing to look for is how the power play operates. It was not very impressive against Huntsville and a big problem the last couple years. It is important it show signs of life Friday night against a team like ASU.
When the season started, I thought UConn would head into the BU series at 3-0. After Saturday's loss, it will not happen. I thought it was important to head into a tough four game stretch against BU and Notre Dame with three wins in the bag. With the loss Saturday, it looks like they will head in at 2-1. Asking for more than two wins against BU and Notre Dame is asking a lot from UConn at this point in time. That is why it is important to have a really solid performance and come out with win number two of the year. If somehow they lost Friday, they could be staring at a disastrous 1-6 or 2-5 start.
After UConn came out against Huntsville on Friday with a really solid performance and had a dominating third period, the team's performance on Saturday was lackluster, to say the least. Even though it was the second game of the season, I would consider Saturday's lost a bad lost. Even without Nichols in net, the team should be able to beat a team like Huntsville.
Is Friday nights game a "must" win? No. Is it a "definitely should" win? Yes. A legitimate team in Hockey East should not lose a game against a team in just their fourth D-1 game. I would expect UConn to have a comfortable victory, which includes controlling puck possession and zone time, especially since ASU is playing Quinnipiac the night before. (It will be interesting to see how a top twenty team like Quinnipiac handles ASU.) I think one big thing to look for is how the power play operates. It was not very impressive against Huntsville and a big problem the last couple years. It is important it show signs of life Friday night against a team like ASU.
When the season started, I thought UConn would head into the BU series at 3-0. After Saturday's loss, it will not happen. I thought it was important to head into a tough four game stretch against BU and Notre Dame with three wins in the bag. With the loss Saturday, it looks like they will head in at 2-1. Asking for more than two wins against BU and Notre Dame is asking a lot from UConn at this point in time. That is why it is important to have a really solid performance and come out with win number two of the year. If somehow they lost Friday, they could be staring at a disastrous 1-6 or 2-5 start.