No. 12 Buckeyes Take on Nittany Lions in B1G Tournament Quarterfinal Series
3/3/2022 2:48:45 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
The Basics
- The No. 12 Ohio State men’s hockey team begins postseason play this weekend, hosting Penn State in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal series.
- The No. 4 seed Buckeyes and No. 5 seed Nittany Lions will meet in the best-of-three series in Value City Arena in The Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 8 p.m. Sunday if necessary.
- The games will be streamed through Big Ten Plus and can be heard on Ohio State Radio.
- Tickets can be purchased online HERE or at the arena box office on game night. Parking is free in designated lots on game night.
- The semifinals will be hosted by No. 1 Minnesota (vs. the lowest advancing seed) and the next highest remaining seed, with the final hosted by the highest remaining seed.
- Ohio State ended the regular season 21-11-2 overall with a Big Ten record of 13-9-2-1-1-1, standing in fourth place with 42 points. Penn State has a 15-18-1 overall record and was 6-17-1-1-1-1 in the Big Ten to tie for fifth with 20 points.
- Ohio State was 3-0-1 vs. Penn State during the regular season with a sweep in Columbus in November and a tie (shootout loss) and win on the road in January. All-time, Ohio State is 20-13-4 vs. Penn State, including 10-7-2 in Columbus.
- Ohio State is looking for its first Big Ten Tournament title. It has reached the championship game twice, with two overtime losses – to Wisconsin in 2014 in Saint Paul, Minn., and at Notre Dame in 2018.
- All-time in Big Ten Tournament play, the Buckeyes are 10-7 (5-0 vs. MSU, 2-2 vs. UW, 1-1 vs. PSU, 1-1 vs. UM, 0-1 vs. ND and 1-2 vs. MINN).
- Ohio State was 13-6-0 at home during the regular season.
- This year, 24 Buckeyes – including every skater with more than four games played – have posted at least two points. Nineteen have at least one goal and 24 have one or more assists. Twenty have at least one multi-point outing. Fourteen have 10+ points, with five at 20 or more. Five have 40 or more shot blocks. Twelve Buckeyes have notched a gamewinning goal and nine have scored on the power play. Of the Top 6 scorers, three are freshmen, with two seniors and a fifth-year.
- Freshman Jakub Dobes is one of 11 semifinalists for the Mike Richter Award. He leads the NCAA with 961 saves and is fifth nationally with a .933 save percentage.
Buckeyes in the B1G Tourney
- The Buckeyes are 10-7 all-time in Big Ten Tournament action, with a 5-1 home record.
- In the quarterfinals, Ohio State is 8-1, with four wins when the tournament was single elimination at neutral sites and sweeps of Michigan State (2018) and Wisconsin (2020) in best-of-three series in Columbus. Last year the league returned to single elimination with the tournament at one site and the Buckeyes lost to Michigan, 4-0, in Notre Dame, Ind.
- Ohio State has never won the Big Ten Tournament, reaching the title game twice (2014, 2018). The squad has two conference postseason tournament titles, winning the CCHA in 1972 and 2004.
- The last Big Ten postseason games in Columbus were a quarterfinal sweep of Wisconsin in March 2020 (9-1, 2-1 OT). The remainder of the tournament was canceled following that series.
- Of the current Buckeyes, Ryan O’Connell, Quinn Preston and Gustaf Westlund are first with three Big Ten Tournament games played, with Grant Gabriele, Jaedon Leslie, CJ Regula and Tate Singleton skating in three. Preston has a 2-2-4 line, while Singleton has three assists. Leslie scored the overtime winner in game two to clinch the series vs. Wisconsin in 2020.
From the Stat Sheet
- As a team (through games of March 2), the Buckeyes are eighth in the NCAA in scoring offense (3.47) ninth in scoring margin (1.15), 12th in winning percentage (.647) and 13th in scoring defense (2.32) and faceoff winning percentage (.518).
- Freshman forward Georgii Merkulov leads the Buckeyes with 18 goals and 32 points, while his classmate, defenseman Mason Lohrei, has a team-best 25 assists and is second with 29 points. Senior Jake Wise (10g, 17a) is third with 27 points, followed by rookie Cam Thiesing (8g, 16a) with 24 points.
- Wise is second with 10 goals, followed by Tate Singleton with nine.
- Wise is second with 17 assists, with Thiesing third and Grant Gabriele fourth with 15.
- Thiesing is first with a +21 rating, with Merkulov second at +18.
- Gabriele has a team-high 47 shot blocks. Ryan O’Connell is second (24), followed by Will Riedell (43), Lohrei (41) and James Marooney (41).
- In goal, Jakub Dobeš is 20-10-2, with a 2.22 goals-against average and .933 save percentage.
Buckeyes vs. Nittany Lions
- Ohio State leads the all-time series with Penn State, 20-13-4, including a 10-7-2 mark in Columbus.
- The teams have met twice in the postseason. March 19, 2015, No. 5 seed Ohio State posted a 3-1 win over No. 4 Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit when the tournament was all single elimination. No. 4 Penn State won in Columbus March 17, 2019 in a semifinal game when Ohio State was the No. 1 seed.
- Among current Buckeyes, Quinn Preston leads the way with 14 games played against Penn State, posting a 2-9-11 line. Gustaf Westlund has skated in 12 games vs. the Nittany Lions and leads current Buckeyes with six goals and 13 points. In four games against Penn State this year Jake Wise leads the Buckeyes with seven points on three goals and four assists.
- Penn State is averaging 3.15 goals a game and allowing 3.29 a night. The power play has converted 18.3 percent of its chances and the penalty kill has stopped 75.2 percent of its opponents opportunities.
- Read about the season series between the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions HERE
A Look at the Rookies
- Six freshmen joined the Ohio State program this year and they have made an immediate impact.
- Rookies are three of the Top 4 scorers on the squad, along with the goalie leader.
- Forward Georgii Merkulov has a team-high 18 goals and 32 points and defenseman Mason Lohrei is first with 25 assists and second with 29 points.
- Cam Thiesing, a forward, is fourth in points (24), tying for second in assists (16). Defenseman Cole McWard has three goals and 11 assists for 14 points.
- Goalie Jakub Dobeš has started 31 games, with 32 appearances. Reilly Herbst has not yet seen action between the pipes for the Buckeyes.
- Dobeš was named one of 11 semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top goalie in Division I men’s hockey. He is the only freshman on the list and one of two goalies from the Big Ten. He joins Sean Romeo and Tommy Nappier as Buckeye semifinalist.
- Dobeš leads NCAA goalies with 961 saves (one shy of 10th in OSU history for a single season) and is fifth with a .933 save percentage. His 20 wins this season are tied for seventh in Ohio State history for single-season victories (the all-time record is 25).
- Merkulov is tied for ninth nationally in goals with 18 and shares the NCAA lead with six gamewinning goals. He is second in points among NCAA freshmen and fourth in points per game (.970). His 32 points are the most for a Buckeye rookie since Tanner Laczynski had 32 in 2016-17.
- His 18 goals are 11th all-time for a Buckeye freshman and the most for a Buckeye rookie since Dave Steckel had 17 in 2001.
- Lohrei, who missed the last three games with injury, is tied for eighth overall and tied for first among defensemen in assists in the NCAA. He is seventh in points among NCAA rookies and third among freshman blueliners.
- Lohrei’s 25 assists are 10th in Ohio State history for a single-season by a defenseman and tied for eighth for a Buckeye freshman, first all-time for an Ohio State rookie blueliner. It is the most assists by a Buckeye defenseman since Doug Andress had 27 in 2004.
- Merkulov has a point in all but 10 of the 31 games he has played this season, including eight multiple-point outings.
- Lohrei had a six-game point streak (2g, 8a, 10p) end in game one vs. Minnesota Feb. 11. He has eight multi-point performances this season, including two three-assist nights.
- Thiesing has at least one point in 11 of his last 17 games. He is +21 to lead the Buckeyes and rank among the B1G leaders.
- Eleven of McWard’s points have come in the last 15 games (3g, 8a).
- Buckeye rookies have won seven Big Ten weekly honors this year, with Dobeš a four-time selection, Lohrei recognized twice and Merkulov, the runner-up for national player of the month in December, also honored. Dobeš was also tabbed the HCA national rookie of the month for October and the co-national goalie of the month for January. Thiesing was runner-up for national rookie of the month honors in January.
Up Next
- The Big Ten Tournament semifinals are set for March 12, with Minnesota and the highest remaining seed hosting the games. The highest remaining seed after the semis will host the championship game March 19.
Complete notes in the PDF above
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