Buckeye Hockey Notebook – Penn State Week (Part Two)
1/14/2019 5:40:35 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
This Week in Buckeye Hockey
The No. 4/5-ranked Ohio State men’s hockey team hits the road for two games at No. 13/12 Penn State this weekend. The teams will face off at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, Pa.
BTN Plus will carry a stream of the games, with Ohio State radio calling the action on 1460 AM, online and through the Ohio State Buckeyes app. Video, radio and stats links are on the gameday page HERE.
Ohio State is coming off a split with Michigan, falling 2-1 in the opener before a 4-2 victory in game two. Penn State split at home with Michigan State last weekend, posting a 4-2 win and 6-4 loss.
In the B1G
Through 12 (of 24) games, Ohio State is in first place in the Big Ten with a 6-3-3-2 record and 23 points, two points ahead of Minnesota (6-3-3-0).
Michigan, which has played a league-high 13 games, is in third with 18 points (4-5-4-2) and Penn State (12 games played) is one point behind the Wolverines with a 5-6-1-1 B1G record and 17 points. Wisconsin has skated in a league-low 10 games, with 16 points on a 4-3-3-1 record, followed by Notre Dame (11 games, 15 points, 5-6-0-0 record) and Michigan State (12 games, 13 points, 3-7-2-2 record).
The Buckeyes have six league series remaining, with road matchups at Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan and home series vs. Notre Dame, Minnesota and Michigan State. After a bye next weekend, the Buckeyes rotate home/away series through the end of the regular season. SCHEDULE
The No. 1 team in the final Big Ten standings earns a bye in the quarterfinals (best-of-three series) of the league tournament, while seeds 2-4 host 5-7. The Top 2 remaining seeds host one-game semifinal matchups, with the top remaining see hosting the final.
In B1G games only:
- Buckeye senior Mason Jobst is tied for second with 17 points and junior Tanner Laczynski is tied for 12th with 11 points
- Jobst has a league-high nine goals, with classmate Brendon Kearney tied for 10th with five goals in B1G games
- Laczynski, freshman Gustaf Westlund and Jobst each have eight assists in conference games to tie for sixth
- Westlund leads B1G rookies with 10 points in league outings.
- Tommy Nappier has a league-best 1.49 goals-against average and .950 save percentage, while Sean Romeo is third in gaa (2.45) and fourth in save percentage (.918).
- Ohio State leads the league in scoring defense (2.00 goals allowed per game) and is second in offense (3.25 goals a night).
Last Time Out
Ohio State was 1-1 vs. Michigan last weekend, with a 2-1 loss and 4-2 victory in Value City Arena.
Friday, the Buckeyes led 1-0 on a first-period goal by Freddy Gerard. The Wolverines tied the game at 6:40 of the second and took the lead at 17:32 for a 2-1 advantage through two periods. The teams combined for just 11 shots (UM 7, OSU 4) in the final period and the Wolverines made the lead hold. Ohio State was outshot, 31-23 and goalie Sean Romeo made 29 saves. Game One Recap
Saturday, the teams were scoreless in the first period. At 10:30 of the second Tanner Laczynski scored on a 5×3 power play to put the Buckeyes ahead, followed by Michigan’s Will Lockwood with a PPG of his own for a 1-1 game entering the third. Michigan took the lead (2-1) at 8:48, but just 28 seconds later Wyatt Ege scored for the Buckeyes to tie the game. At 13:03 Buckeye rookie Quinn Preston notched the eventual gamewinner. Ronnie Hein sealed the victory with an empty net goal. Michigan outshot the Buckeyes, 28-22, with Tommy Nappier making 26 stops for Ohio State. Game Two Recap
In the Rankings
In the USCHO poll this week, the Buckeyes remained ranked fourth, while the squad moved down two spots in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll to No. 5.
The other ranked Big Ten teams in the USCHO poll are No. 12 Notre Dame and No. 13 Penn State, with Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin receiving votes. In the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine rankings, the Nittany Lions are No. 12 and the Irish are No. 13.
Ranked Buckeye nonconference opponents (USCHO/USA Hockey Magazine) include No. 1/1 UMass, No. 9/9 Bowling Green and No. 17/RV Arizona State.
The Buckeye women, after splitting with top-ranked Wisconsin, are ranked fifth in the USCHO poll this week. Ohio State is the only school with both its men’s and women’s programs in the Top 5 and is joined by Northeastern with two Top 10 teams – the men are No. 8 and the women are No. 3.
Buckeyes vs. Nittany Lions
Ohio State leads the all-time series with Penn State, 13-9-2, including a 5-4-1 ledger in Columbus.
The teams met in Columbus Nov. 23-24, splitting the series. The Nittany Lions won the opener, 4-3, breaking a 3-3 tie with a third-period power play goal. Ohio State claimed the second game, 5-2, with three goals in the final 2:17, breaking a 2-2 tie and then adding two shorthanded empty net scores.
Game One Wrapup | Game Two Wrapup
Senior John Wiitala leads the current Buckeyes with 14 games played vs. Penn State, while classmates Brendon Kearney and Mason Jobst have each skated in 13 games vs. the Nittany Lions. Jobst has a team-high eight goals and 15 points vs. PSU. Dakota Joshua, in 11 games vs. PSU, has five goals and nine points, while junior Tanner Laczynski has a 2-7-9 line in six games against the Nittany Lions.
Penn State leads the NCAA in scoring offense, averaging 4.86 goals a game, while Ohio State scores 3.05 a night. The Buckeyes are first in the Big Ten in team defense, allowing 2.18 goals per game, with PSU giving up 3.68 per outing. The teams each average 8.5 penalty minutes a game this season. Penn State has the Big Ten’s best power play (20/72, .278), with Ohio State’s fourth (20/97, .206). The Nittany Lions penalty kill is 62-for-77 (.805) and the Buckeyes are 64-for-81 (.790).
Buckeye This and That
- Redshirt junior defenseman Wyatt Ege scored the first goal of his Buckeye career Saturday (in his 62nd game in the Scarlet and Gray).
- Junior Tanner Laczynski enters the series at Penn State with 99 careeer points, on 34 goals and 65 assists in 94 games.
- Senior Dakota Joshua is five points away from the century mark, with a 38-57-95 line in 118 games in the Scarlet and Gray.
- The Buckeyes are 6-1-4 on the road this season, scoring 2.82 goals a game and allowing 1.55.
- Ohio State had a seven-game unbeaten streak end with the loss against Michigan Friday.
- Since losing to Penn State Nov. 24, the Buckeyes have dropped just one game, going 5-1-3 over the nine-game stretch, averaging 3.89 goals a game and holding opponents to 2.44 an outing. The power play is 10-for-38 (.263).
- Ronnie Hein has a team-best three gamewinning goals this season, with all three coming in the Buckeyes’ shutout wins. He is second on the team with a career-high eight goals.
#1 Play of the Week
Buckeye redshirt junior defenseman Wyatt Ege’s first goal as a Buckeye was a big one – it tied the game at two in the third period Saturday vs. Michigan just 28 seconds after the Wolverines had taken the lead.
The goal was the first for Ege in 62 games as a Buckeye.
