FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks hockey team welcomes the Arizona State Sun Devils to town for a two-game matchup on Friday, Feb. 25 and Saturday, Feb. 26.

Friday, Feb. 25 vs. Arizona State
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Live Audio >> KSUA 91.5 FM or https://www.ksuaradio.com 
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Carlson Center, 7:07 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 26 vs. Arizona State
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Live Stats >> https://bit.ly/3vcugxW
Live Audio >> KSUA 91.5 FM or https://www.ksuaradio.com 
Tickets >> bit.ly/nanooks-tickets
Carlson Center, 7:07 p.m.

Last Time Out
Alaska is coming off of a series-split on Long Island against the Sharks of LIU. In their first-ever meeting with one of the newest DI teams in the sport of hockey, the Sharks won the opener. LIU used two second-period goals to push their lead to 1-3 heading into the third period where they added one more for the 1-4 win. The Nanooks responded the next day, claiming a 4-3 win on three unanswered goals by Simon Falk (shorthanded), Colin Doyle and the eventual winner by Antti Virtanen. This was the Nanooks first win on the season when they entered the third period trailing. Daniel Allin entered the game near the midway point and stopped all seven shots he saw, helping lead the Nanooks to the comeback victory. 

Crunch These Numbers
The Nanooks have had quite a run as of late, winning six of their last seven. Along the way, numerous players have padded their season stats with impressive runs. Anton Rubtsov, over the last seven games, has tallied 10 points and seven goals. On Saturday, Feb. 19 at LIU, the freshman forward recorded three assists. Antti Virtanen is currently riding a four-game point streak, including three multipoint games over the last four days. Since the Arizona State series, the junior defenseman has picked up nine points on two goals and seven assists over six games. He recorded the game-winning goal against LIU this past weekend, his first of the season.

Freshman Payton Matsui is the final Nanooks player who is currently riding a points streak, tallying on in each of the last three games. He scored his third goal of the season at home against Saint Thomas before picking up a pair of assists at LIU, one in each game.
 

Familiar Foes
The Arizona State Sun Devils have become a familiar foe for the Alaska Nanooks hockey program. In the past three seasons, we've seen Arizona State in six games. We'll make it eight following this weekend. 

The Nanooks trekked down to Tempe, Ariz. for the first time since the 2018-19 season. On Feb. 4-5, they swept the Sun Devils on their home ice for their first road-win against ASU in program history. The current series is 3-4 in favor of ASU, but the Nanooks have won three of the previous four. ASU is returning to Fairbanks for the first time since the 2019-20 season in November 2019. The 'Nooks took game one from ASU, winning on Nov. 8, 2019 by the score of 4-3 before ASU blanked the Nanooks 0-4 on Nov. 9, 2019. The programs' first-ever meeting came on Oct. 10, 2015 in Anchorage and was a 1-2 Sun Devils win.

Scouting the Opponents
Arizona comes to Fairbanks after not playing for nearly three weeks. Following the Feb. 4-5 series, the Sun Devils had down time before heading north. On the season, ASU is averaging 3.42 goals per game, good for 11th in the NCAA DI. They are also top-15 offensively in team assists with 179 and their power-play percentage, converting on 23% of their power-play opportunities this season. ASU is led by three players with 30+ points. Matthew Kopperud and Colin Theisen lead the way with 36 each while Josh Doan joins with 33 on the year. 

Kopperud currently leads the NCAA DI in power-play goals, tallying 11. Theisen sits in third for shorthanded goals, scoring two. Following their trip to the 49th state, the Sun Devils will head home for a matchup with the LIU Sharks on March 11-12 in Oceanside Ice Arena.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks hockey team, follow @NanooksHockey on Twitter or Instagram, or like the Alaska Nanooks Hockey team page on Facebook.