After a bye week, the Ohio State men’s hockey team returns to action and opens Big Ten play with two games against Michigan State this weekend.
The Buckeyes (3-1-0, 0-0-0 B1G) and Spartans (3-2-1, 0-0-0 B1G) will meet at 6 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday in Value City Arena in The Schottenstein Center.
Both games will be streamed through BTN+, with the radio call on 1460 AM, WBNS-FM-HD2 (Columbus), OhioStateBuckeyes.com and the Ohio State Buckeyes app. Live stats will also be available.
There is also a home football game Saturday, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. For fans attending the men’s hockey game, general public parking is in the Buckeye Lots, Fawcett Lot and Vivian Lot. A shuttle from the Buckeye Lots will run to the Schottenstein Center from 1-5 p.m. The fee to park in football gameday parking lots is $20 (credit card only). Fans who need ADA parking for the men’s hockey game can park in Scarlet 1 and 2 at no charge. Fans with hockey season parking passes can park in Scarlet Lots 3-5. PARKING MAP
Single game, group, mini-plan and season tickets are now available for the Buckeyes’ 2021-22 campaign. For more information and to purchase, visit OhioStateBuckeyes.com/tickets.
Alumni Weekend Features 1972 Champs
The series vs. Michigan State marks Alumni Weekend for the men’s hockey program. Alums returning to campus will be recognized pregame Friday.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the CCHA regular season and tournament championships won by the 1971-72 team. Members of that squad will have a ceremonial puck drop pregame Friday.
The titles won by those Buckeyes were during the inaugural season of the CCHA. The squad was 8-4-0 in regular season conference games and then defeated Ohio in the semifinals, 7-1, and St. Louis, 3-0, in the final to win the tournament.
Last Time Out
Ohio State hosted UConn in a nonconference series Oct. 15-16, posting 4-3 OT and 3-0 wins.
In game one, the Buckeyes trailed 1-0 after the first period and 3-0 by the 6:17 mark of the second, but scored the game’s final four goals for a 4-3 win. Senior Quinn Preston opened the scoring for the Buckeyes in the second and freshman Cam Thiesing made it a one-goal game entering the third with a late second-period tally. Rookie Georgii Merkulov tied the game at 13:37 of the third before a senior closed it out, with senior Will Riedell completing a play with Jake Wise and freshman Mason Lohrei in 3-on-3 overtime. Freshman Jakub Dobeš played 38:40 in relief between the pipes for the win, stopping all 23 shots he faced, including six in the 3-on-3 overtime.
The teams were scoreless in the first period of game two. Patrick Guzzo put Ohio State on the board 4:45 into the second. Travis Treloar added an insurance goal at 12:10 of the third and Tate Singleton sealed the win with an empty net goal at 17:24. Dobes stopped all 32 shots he faced for his first career shutout.
From the Stat Sheet
Tate Singleton leads the Buckeyes with three goals and five points, while Mason Lohrei has a team-best three assists and is second with four points.
Travis Treloar is second with two goals and he and Quinn Preston (1g, 2a) are tied for third with three points each.
In all, 17 Buckeyes have at least one point, with 12 posting two or more.
In goal, Jakub Dobes is 3-0-0, with a .38 goals-against average and .986 save percentage. His numbers rank among the Top 2 goalies nationally.
As a team (through games of Oct. 2), the Buckeyes are in the Top 15 in the NCAA in faceoff winning percentage (1st/.617), scoring defense (3rd/1.50), scoring margin (3rd/2.25), scoring offense (4th/3.75) and penalty killing percentage (12th/.909).
Buckeyes vs.Spartans
Ohio State trails the all-time series with Michigan State, 51-91-13, but is 20-9-3 in Big Ten play vs. the Spartans, with a 7-3-0 advantage in the last 10 games. In Columbus, Michigan State leads 37-26-6.
The teams last met in Columbus Nov. 28-29, 2020, splitting two games. The Spartans won the opener in overtime, 3-2, before a 4-2 Buckeye victory.
The last matchup was in East Lansing Jan. 23-24, with a split. Ohio The Buckeyes won the opener 5-1 before a 2-0 Spartans shutout win.
Quinn Preston leads the current Buckeyes with five goals, six assists and 11 points vs. Michigan State in 12 games. Gustaf Westlund (10 games vs. MSU) is second with four goals and tied with Travis Treloar (2g, 3a in four games) with five points each.
Michigan State is 3-2-1 this season. The squad opened the year splitting a home series vs. Air Force before sweeping Miami in East Lansing. On the road last weekend, the Spartans faced UMass Lowell, tying 2-2 before a 4-0 loss.
Mitchell Lewandowski leads the Spartans with seven points, sharing the assist lead with Kristof Papp with four each. Jeremy Davidson has a team-high four goals. Drew DeRidder and Pierce Charleson have each started three games in net. As a team, MSU is allowing 2.00 goals per game and scoring 2.33 per night. The power play has converted 23.8 percent of its chances and the penalty kill has stopped 90.5 percent of its opponents’ opportunities.
Up Next
Ohio State will remain at home, hosting Penn State at 7 p.m. Nov. 5 and 5 p.m. Nov. 6.
The first Big Ten road trip of the season follows, with two games at Minnesota Nov. 12-13.
