Alex Eisen/MDN Minot State defenseman Morgen Martelle jumps over Arizona State forward Jagr Larson (7) in front of MSU goaltender Holden Kurtz during an ACHA game played Friday evening at Maysa Arena.

The Sun Devils went up to Minot, looking for a game to steal. Instead, they were greeted with frigid temperatures and the red-hot No. 2-ranked Minot State men’s hockey team.

The Beavers (22-2-1) outshot the No. 24-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils, 38-15, and foiled their upset attempt with a 6-1 home victory at Maysa Arena.

MSU is now on a seven-game winning streak after losing its first home game since October 2014 against the University of Jamestown on Nov. 17, 2017.

“It was kind of frustrating, not in angry, but just frustrating in terms of not being able to capitalize,” MSU coach Wade Regier said. “Think about all the times we missed the net or hit the post. Sometimes you don’t even need to shoot, just take the puck and do a deke to change the shooting angle.”

A five-minute interference penalty on MSU’s Rhett Lough should have slowed down the Beavers to start the game. But, MSU came out skating circles around the Sun Devils (9-19-0) and looked like they were on the power play and not the penalty kill.

The only thing between the Beavers and a huge lead was ASU goaltender Sam Dallas. He stopped a short-handed breakaway attempt by Austin Kilian and a handful of other point-blank shots.

MSU finally broke through with a pair of rebound goals from Sam Briscoe and Johl Swedlo in the first period.

Out of nothing, ASU cut the deficit down to 2-1 going into the first intermission on a goal by Garrett Amaya.

“It could have been 10-0 after that first period with just how things went,” Regier said.

The Sun Devils’ defense stayed compact and in a shell throughout the contest, and basically waited for MSU to make a mistake. It rarely happened and the Beavers kept teeing off and gathering the missed shots to go again.

“They knew that they were going to be short-staffed because of injuries,” Regier said. “It’s a tough way to play. They plugged things up and finally our offense came alive at the end.”

A rocket from the blue line by Paul O’Connor put the Beavers up 3-1 after 4 and a half minutes into the second period. It was the only goal of the second period.

Following a disallowed goal to start the third period, a two-on-one break produced MSU’s fourth goal by Adam Wowryk. With the passing lane blocked off, Wowryk went top shelf.

The Beavers made some amends for all the chances they missed in the first period with two goals late. Lyndon Lipinski scored with 19.2 seconds left and Derrick Brooks beat the buzzer with a goal .9 seconds left, 6-1.

“We will make a few adjustments and hopefully we don’t wait until the very end to score a bunch of goals,” Regier said.

Playing their third game in three days at Maysa Arena, the Beavers have a rematch against Arizona State this evening at 7:30 p.m.

Alex Eisen covers Minot High School, Minot State athletics and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.