ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVIL HOCKEY MEDIA NOTES @SunDevilHockey @SunDevilHockey /SunDevilHockey GAME 17-18: ARIZONA STATE AT #12/14 WISCONSIN JANUARY 15-16, 2021 7:00 PM (CT) ON THE HORIZON Jan. 21-22 at #1 Minnesota 7/4 p.m. (CT) FOX Sports Arizona AT LaBAHN SUN DEVIL REWIND ARENA This past weekend, senior forward JOHNNY WALKER reached his 100th Madison, WI career point with an assist on senior forward JAMES SANCHEZ’s goal in 7 p.m. (CT) the first period of Sunday’s game. Since his return, WALKER has scored FS-AZ in three consecutive games, totaling seven points (3G-4A). With four 6-6-0 5-9-2 goals on the weekend, freshman forward MATTHEW KOPPERUD leads the nation in goals scored (12) and is tied for second in points (18). RECORD VS. BIG TEN OPPONENTS TEAM 2020-21 OVERALL LAST MEETING On Sunday afternoon, sophomore netminder JUSTIN ROBBINS got MICHIGAN 0-2-0 0-5-0-0 L, 0-3 - NOV. 15, 2020 his first collegiate start and win with 26 saves for the Sun Devils. Before MICHIGAN STATE 0-1-1 3-1-1-1 L, 0-2 - NOV. 20, 2020 suffering a season-ending injury in 2019-20, ROBBINS’ last appearance MINNESOTA 0-2-0 0-4-0-0 L, 4-6 - JAN. 4, 2021 NOTRE DAME 2-2-0 2-4-0-0 W, 5-3 - JAN. 10, 2021 came in relief on Oct. 12, 2019 at Minnesota State. OHIO STATE 1-0-1 1-3-2-0 W, 3-2 - DEC. 18, 2020 PENN STATE 0-2-0 1-4-0-2 OTL, 2-3 - DEC. 13, 2020 ASU’s special teams has shown massive improvement over the course WISCONSIN 2-0-0 2-4-0-0 W, 3-1 - NOV. 29, 2020 of the season. The Sun Devil penalty killing unit has negated 10-straight 2020-21 SUN DEVIL LEADERS penalties dating back to the last game against Ohio State. After start- ing the season 3-for-36 through the first 11 games, the Sun Devil power Player G A Pts. Goalie Rec. SV% GAA Matthew Kopperud 12 6 18 Evan DeBrouwer 3-7-1 .903 3.57 play has displayed its offensive capabilities with at least one goal in five James Sanchez 3 9 12 Cole Brady 1-2-1 .891 4.12 consecutive games, three of which included multiple goals. KOPPERUD Ryan O’Reilly 3 7 10 Justin Robbins 1-0-0 .897 3.00 continued his man-advantage streak with two power-play goals in each Jax Murray 5 4 9 game against the Irish. 2020-21 BADGER LEADERS Player G A Pts. Goalie Rec. SV% GAA WE MEET AGAIN Cole Caufield 7 7 14 Robbie Beydoun 5-5-0 .904 3.34 Linus Weissbach 6 7 13 Cameron Rowe 1-1-0 .956 1.44 The Badgers (6-6-0) made headlines last weekend as they were the first Brock Caufield 5 3 8 and only team to have handed the Golden Gophers a loss this season. jack Gorniak 3 5 8 They went on to split the series, but managed to get three goals against the No. 1 ranked team, a feat which has only been done once before this BY THE NUMBERS season when the Sun Devils netted four goals the week prior. After a tough start, the Sun Devil power play has recorded a goal in each of the last five games with two in each of Sophomore forward Cole Caufield, the 2019 15th-overall pick, leads Wis- 5 the last two games and three of the last five. consin offensively with 14 points (7G-7A). ASU is currently the only team Senior forward JOHNNY WALKER is now the second to hold Caufield to zero points in a series, as he has recorded at least one player in program history to eclipse 100 career points in point in every other game this season. The Badgers will have 2020 14th- 100 the Maroon & Gold. overall pick Dylan Holloway back in their lineup after missing eight games After missing 10-straight games, WALKER has returned while World Junior camp with Team Canada. Holloway has only played with a vengeance, recording seven points in his last three four games this season tallying two points (0G-2A). 7 games. The Sun Devil offense currently has the third highest total Netminder Robbie Beydoun, a Michigan Tech graduate transfer, has held goals scored this season with 50. most of the time in the back end for the Badgers with 11 starts out of 12 50 games, played posting a .904 save percentage and 3.34 goals against SUN DEVIL TWEETABLES average. 1. .@SunDevilHockey is one of the least penalized teams in the country this year, averaging just 2.94 penalties per game for the third-lowest in the NCAA. PRONUNCIATION GUIDE 2. .@SunDevilHockey has killed 10-straight penalties dating back to the Ohio BUNCIS: bun-sis KNIERIM: NEER-um State series. DHOOGHE: DOO-gie KOPPERUD: copper-RUDE 3. Since the Michigan series, @SunDevilHockey ranks 2nd in scoring (4.00 g/gp) ECKERLE: ECK-er-lee KOSOBUD: COH-suh-bud among all teams who have played at least eight games or more. 4. After ranking near the bottom early in the season, the power play now ranks GOURLEY: GORE-lee KOUMONTZIS: co-mun-ZEEZ 21st at 21.6% and the 2nd-best since the last time ASU and Wisconsin met. GRANDO: gran-DOH MANCINELLI: Man-sin-el-EE 5. After being one of the least experienced teams in college hockey in recent GVIDO: guh-VEE-doh SANDHU: san-DOO years, ASU is T7th for most upperclassmen and T4th for most seniors. JANSONS: YAWN-sons SEMIK: seh-MICK QUOTES OF THE WEEK SUN DEVIL SCENARIOS • “We’re way better than our record, I don’t have any doubt about it. I think the record is at least flipped if half our During the 2020-21 regular season, the Sun Devils are: games to this point are at home, I really believe that but we knew what we were getting in to so we can’t let that • 3-3-1-1 when scoring four or more goals be an excuse per se, but it’s very important that we continue to hold what we’re going through in perspective.” • 2-1-1-0 when allowing two or fewer goals -Head coach Greg Powers on playing good teams but coming up short • 3-2-0-1 when scoring first • “Now we have Wisconsin who’s going to be chomping at the bit to get us back for sweeping them. They’re • 2-1-0-1 when leading after one period going to be at full strength now and we’re going to have our work cut out for us.” -Head coach Greg Powers on • 5-1-0-0 when leading after two periods Wisconsin • “They’re a really skilled team, they’re really good with the puck. They move really, really quick and last time we • 1-5-1-1 when trailing after one period were really responsible in our own zone and managed the game really well, and obviously, we swept them and • 0-5-2-1 when trailing after two periods we’re looking forward to doing that again.” -Freshman forward Ryan O’Reilly on Wisconsin • 1-1-1-0 when tied after one period • 0-1-0-1 when tied after two periods RETURN OF WALKER • 1-2-2-2 in one-goal games • Senior forward JOHNNY WALKER, who entered the 2020-21 season as the active leader in goals scored in 2020-2021 SCHEDULE the NCAA, finally returned to the lineup at Minnesota after missing 10-straight games with an injury suffered in game two of the season at Michigan. Date Opponent Network Time/Result • After limited minutes in game one against the Gophers, WALKER returned to the top line and wasted no time Nov. 14 at #12 Michigan BTN+ L, 1-8 making his presence felt with a highlight-reel, lacrosse-style goal -- made famous by Mike Legg at Michigan Nov. 15 at #12 Michigan BTN L, 0-3 and Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes -- to put the Sun Devils up 3-2 in the 2nd period. The play Nov. 19 at Michigan State BTN T, 1-1 made for SportsCenter’s top play of the day on Monday. The goal was WALKER’s first of the season, and he Nov. 20 at Michigan State BTN+ L, 0-2 managed several additional scoring chances on Monday night. Nov. 28 at #14/15 Wisconsin FS-AZ W, 8-5 • Since his return, WALKER has tallied seven points over the last three games. Nov. 29 at #14/15 Wisconsin FS-AZ W, 3-1 Dec. 3 at #13/16 Notre Dame NHL Network W, 6-3 Dec. 4 at #13/16 Notre Dame NBCSN L, 4-5 MAKING EARLY IMPACT Dec. 11 at Penn State BTN+ OTL, 2-3 • Since the start of the season, four of the Sun Devils’ six freshmen have seen significant playing time. Dec. 13 at Penn State BTN+ OTL, 4-5 Goaltender COLE BRADY, who recently departed the team due to non-COVID related sickness, has also seen Dec. 17 at #18 Ohio State BTN+ T, 4-4 nearly half the starts before his departure. Dec. 18 at #18 Ohio State BTN+ W, 3-2 • Two of the Sun Devils’ top three in points are freshman, including KOPPERUD at the top with 18 points and Jan. 3 at #1 Minnesota FS-AZ L, 1-4 Detroit Red Wings’ draft pick RYAN O’REILLY with 10 points.