UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In a hard-fought game with sole possession of second place in the Big Ten on the line, the No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the No. 13 Penn State Nittany Lions, 5-1.
Following its loss on Friday night, Ohio State (15-5-4, 8-5-1-0 B1G) managed to split the weekend series in Happy Valley and snap Penn State’s 11 game unbeaten streak due in large part to fast starts and power play efficiency.
“The biggest thing was cleaning up some of the mistakes we made last night,” said Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik. “We tried to crack some things on special teams and the bottom line is our effort. We got beat by a good hockey team last night, and we came out here tonight and our guys weren’t going to be denied.”
The Buckeyes struck first on the scoreboard in every period and were able to score on two of their five opportunities with a man advantage.
“Obviously we played shorthanded way too much against a team like that to give ourselves a good chance to win; that being said, the start that we had and the mentality, certainly in the faceoff circle, wasn’t near good enough for what we expect,” said Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky.
A free flowing, back-and-forth first period created a plethora of quality chances for both sides.
Ohio State opened the scoring at 5:08 of the first after a turnover in the neutral zone sprung a two-on-one opportunity for the Buckeyes. Freddy Gerard, who finished with two goals and an assist, beat a defender to the outside and was able to find Tanner Laczynski, who tapped in the pass into the wide-open net.
The Nittany Lions responded with their lone tally of the night after several consecutive shifts of sustained puck control in the offensive zone that resulted in a Nikita Pavlychev deflection to even the contest at 1-1.
Penn State (13-8-3, 6-5-3-2 B1G) continued its offensive pressure and was threatening to take the lead until a pair of untimely penalties halted its momentum.
Andrew Sturtz, who leads the Nittany Lions in scoring, received a five-minute penalty and a game misconduct following a nasty collision with Buckeyes defenseman Janik Moser late in the opening period. Ohio State wasted no time capitalizing, as Gerard notched a goal and his second point of the night to regain the lead at 2-1.
“Anytime you get a five-minute major, you want to take advantage of it,” said Rohlik. “Even getting one goal was big for us. You can always say well, we wanted more goals, but at least we got the one.”
In the ensuing period, Ohio State cashed in again on the power play after Dakota Joshua buried a shot past Penn State goaltender Peyton Jones.
Throughout the night, the Buckeyes dominated faceoffs, finishing with a 37-23 record, which granted them possession at vital moments in the game.
“It’s hard to score goals without the puck,” said Gadowsky. “There are around 60 faceoffs a night, and if you start out with possession on a majority of those you are giving yourself a great chance. If you don’t, you’re putting yourself behind the eight ball, and that’s what we did right from the start.”
The Nittany Lions mustered up numerous scoring chances in the later stages of the game, including a James Robinson penalty shot and a Denis Smirnov near miss from point-blank range; however, they were unable to convert.
Ohio State, which finished with a 42-31 shot advantage, added two goals in the final minute to put the game out of reach.
