No. 10 Buckeyes Close Regular Season with B1G Series vs. the Badgers
2/27/2020 8:29:21 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The No. 10 Ohio State men’s hockey team closes out the regular season with a home series vs. Wisconsin in Value City Arena this weekend. The teams will meet at 6 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday. BTN will televise both games, with the broadcast available on the Fox Sports app and the radio call on Ohio State radio.
The eight members of the Buckeye senior class will be recognized pregame Saturday. Pregame Saturday is Hockey Hour from 7-8 p.m., with fun activities on the concourse.
Buckeye Notes to Know
- The Buckeyes’ eight seniors – part of three NCAA Tournament appearances, a Frozen Four trip and a Big Ten regular season title, with 85 wins entering the weekend – will be recognized pregame Saturday.
- Both the Buckeyes and Badgers are coming off sweeps. Ohio State won 1-0 and 4-2 over Michigan State last weekend in East Lansing, while Wisconsin posted 7-6 and 6-2 wins over then-No. 9 Arizona State in Madison.
- Ohio State is 17-19-3 all-time vs. Wisconsin, but leads the series in Big Ten regular season games, 16-7-3. In Columbus, the Buckeyes lead the series, 7-6-1.
- The teams met in Madison, Wis., Jan. 10-11, splitting two games. Ohio State won 4-2 before a 5-2 loss. Last season, the Buckeyes posted a home sweep in Columbus Nov. 16-17, 2018, with 4-0 and 3-1 wins.
- Ohio State enters the weekend tied with Minnesota for second place in the Big Ten, four points behind Penn State, which has ended its B1G schedule. Two wins (six points) for the Buckeyes would give Ohio State at least a share of the Big Ten title.
- Senior and leading scorer Tanner Laczynski is third among current NCAA skaters in career points (138) and second in assists (93). His 1.03 points per game average is tied for fourth among non-freshmen and second among seniors.
- Ohio State is tied for second among Big Ten schools with three double-digit goal scorers. Quinn Preston has a team-best 13, while Gustaf Westlund has 12 and Carson Meyer has 11.
- Tommy Nappier stopped all 25 shots last Friday at Michigan State for his eighth career shutout and third this season. He is fourth in program history in career shutouts.
Buckeye Snapshot
- The Buckeyes, 18-10-4 this season, are scoring 2.69 goals a game, while allowing 2.31 a night to rank 13th nationally in team defense. The power play is sixth in the nation, converting 26.3 percent (31-for-118) and Ohio State has stopped 77-of-94 (.819) opponent power play chances.
- Senior Tanner Laczynski is first on the team with 21 assists and 29 points. Sophomore Quinn Preston has a team-high 13 goals, ranking fourth with 21 points. Sophomore Gustaf Westlund is second with 12 goals, 12 assists and 24 points. Senior Carson Meyer is third with 11 goals, 11 assists and 22 points. Matt Miller leads the defensemen with 15 points and is fourth on the team with 10 assists.
- Senior Gordi Myer leads the squad with 60 blocked shots.
- In goal, junior Tommy Nappier has a 2.05 goals-against average and .930 save percentage, posting a 15-9-3 record in 28 games. Freshman Ryan Snowden has a 2.52 goals-against average and .905 save percentage, notching a 3-1-1 record, in five appearances.
In the Polls
- The Buckeyes moved to 10th in both the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls after sweeping the Spartans.
- Big Ten teams joining the Buckeyes in the USCHO poll include No. 9 Penn State and No. 18 Minnesota, with Notre Dame, Michigan and Michigan State receiving votes.
- No. 8 Penn State joins Ohio State in the USA Today Top 15, with Minnesota and Notre Dame receiving votes.
- Ohio State is one of four schools in the country with Top 10 ranked men’s and women’s programs, with the Buckeye women fifth. The other schools are Cornell (No. 1 men and women), Clarkson (No. 7 men and women) and Minnesota Duluth (No. 5 men, No. 9 women).
Buckeyes vs. Badgers
- Ohio State is 17-19-3 all-time vs. Wisconsin, but leads the series in Big Ten regular season games, 16-7-3. In Columbus, the Buckeyes lead the series, 7-6-1.
- The teams met in Madison Jan. 10-11, splitting two games. Ohio State won 4-2 before a 5-2 loss. Last season, the Buckeyes posted a home sweep in Columbus Nov. 16-17, with 4-0 and 3-1 wins.
- Senior Tanner Laczynski has played a team-high 13 games vs. Wisconsin, while classmates Gordi Myer and Matt Miller have each played 12, Miguel Fidler has skated in 11 and Wyatt Ege has 10 games played vs. Wisconsin. Fidler and Laczynski share the team lead with three goals vs. UW, while Ege has a team-best five assists, followed by Laczynski, Myer, Miller and sophomore Gustaf Westlund with four. Laczynski leads Ohio State with seven career points vs. the Badgers. In goal, Tommy Nappier has a 4-0-0 record, with a 1.00 goals-against average and .966 save percentage against Wisconsin.
Ohio State vs. Wisconsin – The Last Series
- Ohio State returned to Big Ten play Jan. 10-11 against the Badgers, with the teams splitting a series. The loss ended a seven-game winning streak for the Buckeyes vs. the Badgers.
- Game One (OSU 4, UW 2): Buckeye senior Carson Meyer opened the game with a power play goal at 10:13 of the first, the only goal of the period. In the second, the teams traded goals twice, with Grant Gabriele and Gustaf Westlund each answering a Badger goal, giving Ohio State a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes. Ronnie Hein pushed the Buckeye lead to 4-2 at 12:19 of the third. Ohio State, which was 2-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill, had the shot advantage, 30-28. Meyer led the Buckeyes with an Ohio State career-best three points on a goal and two assists and Westlund had a helper for a two-point night. Wyatt Ege had two assists in the win.
- Game Two (UW 5, OSU 2): Wisconsin opened the scoring in the first period and Buckeye senior Ronnie Hein scored on the power play late in the stanza for a 1-1 game after 20 minutes. The Badgers took control in the second, scoring four goals in a row to take a 5-1 lead. Sam McCormick tallied for Ohio State to end the run at 17:12 of the second. Neither team scored in the third. The Buckeyes outshot Wisconsin, 29-27. Ohio State was 1-for-3 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.
The Wisconsin Badgers
- Wisconsin, 13-18-1 overall and 6-15-1-1 in Big Ten play, is scoring 3.25 goals a night and allowing 3.72 per game. The power play is 23-for-114 (.202) and the penalty kill is 89-for-115 (.774).
- Cole Caulfield has a team-best 19 goals and 34 points and is third with 15 assists. Roman Achan is second with 14 goals and 25 points on the year. Wyatt Kalynuk, who is third with 24 points, and Linus Weissbach share the team assist lead with 18 each. Alex Turcotte is tied for third in assists (15) and ranks fourth in points (23).
- In goal, Daniel Lebedeff is 11-14-0, with a 3.53 goals-against average and .892 save percentage.
In the B1G
- Four teams enter the final week of the regular season with a shot at the Big Ten title, with six points separating the Top 4 teams.
- Only two positions have been clinched for the tournament; Penn State will finish among the Top 3 and Wisconsin will be the No. 7 seed.
- Ohio State and Minnesota are tied for second with 37 points, four behind Penn State, which has completed its Big Ten schedule. Notre Dame is six back of PSU and two behind the Buckeyes and Gophers with 35 points. Michigan (33 points) and Michigan State (31 points) follow.
- Two Ohio State wins would give the Buckeyes at least a share of the title and the No. 1 seed in the tournament, with the first tiebreaker league wins.
- This weekend, in addition to the Buckeyes’ series vs. Wisconsin, Minnesota hosts Michigan and Notre Dame hosts Michigan State.
- For the postseason, the No. 1 seed gets a bye to the semifinals, while seeds 2-4 host teams 5-7 in best-of-three series. The semifinals and final are each one game, hosted by the highest remaining seeds. Wisconsin will be the No. 7 seed.
- In conference action, Ohio State is tied for fourth among league teams in scoring offense (2.59 goals per game) and ranks fourth in scoring defense (2.55 goals allowed per game). The power play is 18-for-68 (.265) to rank second and the penalty kill is 44-for-56 (.786) to tie for fifth.
- In B1G games only, Tanner Laczynski (5g, 12a, 17p) leads the Buckeyes and is 11th in the Big Ten in points. Carson Meyer (8g, 7a, 15p) and Quinn Preston (8g, 7a, 15p) are tied for 13th among league skaters. Laczynski is tied for sixth in helpers.
- Ohio State has three defensemen among the Top 15 in points among league blueliners, ranking second behind Notre Dame (4). For the Buckeyes, Matt Miller (5g, 10a, 15p) is ninth, Gordi Myer (5g, 9a, 14p) is tied for 10th and Grant Gabriele (4g, 8a, 12p) is tied for 13th.
- Preston is tied for fifth with nine goals in B1G play, while Gustaf Westlund and Meyer are tied for ninth with eight goals each in B1G play.
- Meyer is first in the league with six power play goals in conference games and Westlund is tied for second with three gamewinners.
- Tate Singleton has a 3-5-8 line to tie for seventh in points among B1G freshmen.
The Schedule Ahead
- The postseason starts next week. The Big Ten Tournament starts with a best-of-three quarterfinal series March 6-8, with seeds 2-4 hosting 5-7. The No. 1 seed and the top remaining seed will host one-game semifinals March 14/15, with the top remaining seed hosting the championship game March 21/22.
Ticket Talk
Single game and group tickets for the Buckeyes’ 2019-20 season are available. They can be purchased online (HERE) or by contacting a ticket sales representative by calling 1-800-GO-BUCKS (select option 2) or emailing AthleticSales@osu.edu. New season tickets for the 2020-21 campaign go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday.
Complete notes in the PDF linked above
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