The No. 5 Cyclones will try to avoid getting burnt in Tempe, Ariz. as they skate against No. 12 Arizona State, which has been nothing short of blazing this season with its 14-0-0 record.

While the Sun Devils haven’t faced as tough of competition this season as the Cyclones — their most notable wins are 6-3 over Robert Morris [Illinois] and a 9-3 victory over Westchester — Iowa State (12-4-2) recognizes them as dangerous. The Sun Devils are a high-scoring team, with their least total goals in a game at three and their highest at 13.

“They’re scoring a lot of goals against mediocre teams,” coach Al Murdoch said.

Arizona State is led by forward Joe Schweiger, an Eastern Michigan transfer whom the Cyclones have played before. Schweiger has a team-leading 14 goals this season. Iowa State will try to neutralize Schweiger and the rest of the Sun Devil offense by being aggressive and quicker to the puck. A big part of containing Schweiger will rely on the Cyclones being physical.

“We want to knock him on his ass,” Murdoch said. “It’s hard to score a lot of goals when you’re sitting on your ass on the ice.”

The familiarity should help the Cyclones contain Schweiger’s dynamic skills on the ice.

“We know what he’s capable of,” junior forward Cort Bulloch said. “We’re not at the point yet where were going to double team him. At the same time, we have to respect him while not giving him too much to work with. He’s got a hell of a shot, good ice awareness and he moves the puck really well.”

In the past, Murdoch has stressed that he expects 7-10 goals from his team, no matter who the opponent is. 

That is something the Cyclones weren’t able to achieve in last weekend’s split with Central Oklahoma. They were held without a goal in three periods of play before losing in a shutout in their second game with the Bronchos. This is something the team views as unacceptable. 

Iowa State focused on their breakaway and powerplay situations during practice this week in hopes their scoring will improve this weekend against the Sun Devils.

“Our goaltenders are playing real well,” Murdoch said. “The better our shooting is, the better our goaltending gets; and the better our goaltending is, the better our shooting gets.”

Arizona State will face a tougher, more dynamic team in the Cyclones than they have faced so far this season. Iowa State is led by junior Mike Lebler, the team’s points leader with 11 goals and 13 assists, as well as freshman forward David Kurbatsky and senior forward Pete Majkozak. Kurbatsky and Majkozak have 14 and 12 goals respectively.

“I think we can bring some talent they haven’t seen yet this year,” Behrman said. “We’re just going to have to go down there and execute. They’re a good solid team, so we have to make sure we’re capitalizing on our power play and 2-on-1 opportunities. If we’re able to get those things done, I’m confident that we will be able to come out of there with two wins.”