Box Score Tempe, Ariz. – Johnny Walker scored twice in the first period and once in the third to complete his hat trick and help the No. 20 Arizona State Sun Devils (8-4-1) upset the No. 4 Denver Pioneers (9-4-2, 1-3-2-1) 4-1 on Friday at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe, Ariz.
 
"They made life hard on us coming up the ice and they deserve a lot of credit for the result," Richard and Kitzia Goodman Head Coach David Carle said. "The better team won tonight, there's no doubt about it."
 
Walker scored his seventh and eighth goals of the season at 5:05 and 15:53 of the first period to give ASU an early lead. He toe dragged and sniped from the top of the right circle for his first tally, then added his second goal on a breakaway, sliding the puck around Magnus Chrona who charged from his net, slid into Walker at the hashmarks and took a tripping penalty on the play. 
 
Denver pushed to cut the deficit, ultimately outshooting Arizona State 34-30, but couldn't find the back of the net until 10:34 of the third. Brett Stapley fed Jaakko Heikkinen in front of the net on the play with Heikkinen swiveling and shooting to make it a 2-1 game.
 
"The jump was good in the third and we had more urgency to us," Carle said. "We were attacking more and we were moving on pucks as well as we did all night and it did lead to some chances. It was good to see, unfortunately it was a little too late."
 
Arizona State's power play put the game out of reach in the final minutes as the Sun Devils went to the man advantage on Liam Finlay's hooking call with 2:48 remaining regulation and sealed the game with Johnny Walker's deflection for his third goal of the game. 
 
Brett Gruber scored an empty-netter at 19:27 to make it a 4-1 final.
….
 
Jaakko Heikkinen is on a three-game goal streak with three goals and a three-game point streak with three goals and two assists…Denver went 0/5 on the power play and 2/3 on the penalty kill…
                                                                                                       
UP NEXT: Denver men's hockey presented by Centura Health will close its series with No. 20 Arizona State on Saturday, Dec. 7 at Gila River Arena in Tempe, Arizona. Puck drop is set for 4:30 p.m. MT
 
SHOP PIONEERS: Get dressed for Game Day! Get your Pioneers gear at ShopPioneers.com, the official online store of University of Denver Athletics.
 
DONATE: Fans interested in making a donation to the men's hockey program can do so by clicking here. Your contribution will make a direct impact on the success of YOUR Pioneers. Thank you in advance for your unwavering support of our student-athletes and their quest for excellence.   

-OUR JOURNEY, OUR TIME- 
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