No. 17 Buckeyes Take on Falcons to Close First Half

The Basics

The No. 17 Ohio State men’s hockey team closes out the first part of its schedule with a home-and-home series with Bowling Green this weekend.
The teams will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in Value City Arena in the Schottenstein Center in Columbus and at 7:07 p.m. Friday in Slater Family Ice Arena in Bowling Green, Ohio.
The game Thursday will be televised by BTN and streamed through the Fox Sports app (for cable subscribers with BTN as part of their package). Friday’s contest will be streamed through FloHockey.tv.
Ohio State enters the series 10-6 overall and has a 6-4 record in Big Ten play. Bowling Green is 8-5-3 on the year and 6-5-1 in CCHA action.
Tickets for the Buckeyes’ home game can be purchased online through OhioStateBuckeyes.com and at the door on gamenight and parking is free.

Buckeye This and That

Ohio State is coming off a split at home with No. 3 Michigan, dropping the opener 5-2 before a 6-1 victory. Bowling Green was 1-1 at home vs. Ferris State last week, with a 6-3 loss and 2-1 win.
The Buckeyes and Falcons have met 184 times, starting in 1966-67. The last series between the teams was Oct. 16-17, 2018. Bowling Green won in Columbus 8-2 before a 2-2 OT tie the next night in Bowling Green.
The Buckeyes will enter their December break after the series, returning to action Dec. 31-Jan. 1 when they host LIU in Columbus.
This year, 23 Buckeyes – including every skater with more than two games played – have posted at least one point. Eighteen have at least one goal and 23 have one or more assists.
The Buckeyes have scored three or more goals in 11 of 16 games this year and are averaging 3.38 goals a night. The defense has held opponents to three or less goals in 13 of 16 games and is allowing 2.31 goals per game overall.

Up Next

The Buckeyes enter their December break after this weekend’s series. The team will be back in action vs. LIU, with the squads facing off at 5 p.m. Dec. 31 and 3 p.m. Jan. 1 (note those game times have just been announced).
Single-game, mini-plan and group tickets for all remaining Buckeye home games are on sale now. TICKET INFORMATION

Buckeyes vs. Falcons

Ohio State and Bowling Green have met 184 times, with the series beginning in 1966.
The Falcons lead the overall series between Ohio State and Bowling Green, 98-76-10, including 58-29-7 in Bowling Green. In Columbus, the Buckeyes have the edge, 44-38-3.
Ohio State and Bowling Green were founding members of the CCHA in 1971-72. The Buckeyes left and skated as an independent in 1973-74 and 1974-75, but rejoined the Falcons in the CCHA in 1975-76 and remained in the league until it disbanded in that form in 2012-13.
Since becoming nonconference foes starting in 2013-14, the Buckeyes and Falcons have met in five of eight seasons. BG leads in those contests, 5-4-1.
The last series between the teams was Oct. 16-17, 2018. Bowling Green won in Columbus 8-2 before a 2-2 OT tie the next time in Bowling Green.
Four current Buckeyes saw action in the last series vs. BG – Grant Gabriele, a sophomore that season, along with then-freshmen Ryan O’Connell, Quinn Preston and Gustaf Westlund, with Westlund posting an assist.
Bowling Green is 8-5-3 overall this year and has 6-5-1 record in CCHA action. The team is scoring 3.19 goals a game and allowing 3.06 a contest. The power play has converted 23 percent of its chances and the penalty kill has stopped 84.6 percent of its opponents’ opportunities.
Austen Swankler leads the team with 18 points, while Nathan Burke is first with nine goals and Gabriel Chicoine has a team-high 12 assists.

From the Stat Sheet

Freshman defenseman Mason Lohrei leads the Buckeyes with 12 assists and 14 points.
Rookie Georgii Merkulov is second with 13 points, tying with senior Jake Wise and freshman Cam Thiesing for second in assists with eight each.
Travis Treloar is first with six goals and Tate Singleton and Merkulov are tied for second with five goals each.
Grant Gabriele is first with a +13 rating and Ryan O’Connell leads the squad with 25 shot blocks, with Will Riedell second with 21.
In goal, Jakub Dobeš is 10-5-0, with a 2.20 goals-against average and .921 save percentage.
As a team (through games of Dec. 13), the Buckeyes are in the Top 18 in the NCAA in faceoff winning percentage (4th/.547), scoring defense (14th/2.31), scoring margin (15th/1.06), winning percentage (15th/.625) and scoring offense (17th/3.38).

Full notes in the PDF linked above

Departments