Buckeyes to Take on No. 7/6 Wolverines
2/17/2021 3:06:59 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio State men’s hockey team returns to the ice with a series against No. 7/6 Michigan this weekend. The Buckeyes (5-14-1, 5-13-0-0-1-0 B1G) and Wolverines (11-7-0, 9-7-0-1-0-0 B1G) will meet at 5:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Value City Arena. The games will be streamed through BTN Plus. Ohio State Radio will have the action on 1460 AM and John Mowat and Herb Howenstine will be on the broadcast.
Buckeye Notes to Know
- Ohio State had its series at Penn State last weekend (Feb. 12-13) postponed because of positive COVID-19 results among Penn State’s Tier 1 personnel.
- Ohio State last played Feb. 5-6, falling twice at home to Notre Dame. Michigan split a series with Wisconsin last weekend (W 5-1, L 2-3) in its first games since Jan. 21-22.
- Ohio State and Michigan met in Ann Arbor Jan. 15-16, with the Wolverines posting 4-2 and 5-0 wins. The squads last met in Columbus Nov. 1-2, 2019, with Ohio State posting a sweep (3-2, 2-1).
- The Big Ten announced the conference tournament will be held March 18-20 in Notre Dame, Ind. It will be a single elimination tournament, with the top seed getting a bye into the semifinals.
- Austin Pooley, the Buckeyes’ captain, is one of 15 candidates for the 2021 Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as a NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
- Travis Treloar leads the Buckeyes with 16 points, ranking third in points among Big Ten rookies. His six goals are second and his 10 assists are tied for third among league freshmen.
Buckeye Snapshot
- Ohio State is 5-14-1 this season and 5-13-0-1-0-0 in Big Ten play. The team is looking to end a five-game losing streak.
- The Buckeyes are scoring 2.05 goals a night and allowing 3.60 per outing. The squad has been outshot on average, 33.8-27.8.
- Ohio State’s power play is 13-for-67 (.194) and the penalty kill is 57-for-74 (.770).
- Freshman Travis Treloar is first on the team with 16 points, followed by sophomore Mark Cheremeta with 14, junior Quinn Preston with 12 and senior defenseman Grant Gabriele and sophomore Tate Singleton with 10 each.
- Treloar, Preston and Singleton are tied for first with six goals each.
- Treloar and Cheremeta share the team lead with 10 assists apiece.
- In goal, Tommy Nappier has started 18 games and has a 3.17 goals-against average and .908 save percentage. Evan Moyse has four appearances and one start, with a 3.80 goals-against average and .860 save percentage. Ryan Snowden has played in three games, starting one, with a 5.97 goals-against and .854 save percentage.
Buckeyes vs. Wolverines
- Ohio State and Michigan faced off for the first time in 1964 and after games in 1969-70, 1974-75 and 1978-79, have met at least once each season since 1981-82 when Michigan joined Ohio State in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.
- The Wolverines lead the all-time series, 86-47-14, including 37-25-6 in Columbus.
- The teams faced off in Ann Arbor Jan. 15-16, with the Wolverines winning 4-2 and 5-0. The last four games between the teams were all in Ann Arbor.
- Sophomore Tate Singleton leads Ohio State with four goals and five points vs. the Wolverines (in six games). Quinn Preston is next with three goals and four points in 10 games. Senior Austin Pooley has played a team-high 15 games vs. UM and has two goals.
- Six Buckeyes – Quinn Preston (Trenton), Dalton Messina (Macomb), Grant Gabriele (Brighton), CJ Regula (Bloomfield Hills), Patrick Guzzo (Marysville) and Ryan Dickinson (Brighton) – call Michigan home.
- Ohio State associate head coach Steve Miller and Michigan assistant coach Kris Mayotte were both on the staff that coached Team USA to the World Junior Championship gold medal last month. The duo were part of the coaching staff at Providence when they captured the 2015 NCAA title.
The Wolverines
- Michigan is 11-7-0 overall this year and has a 9-7-0-1-0-0 mark in Big Ten games.
- The squad is scoring 3.61 goals a night and allowing 2.06 an outing. The power play is 13-for-50 (.260) and the penalty kill is 46-for-59 (.780). Michigan has been outshooting opponents 34.3-28.3 on average.
- Thomas Bordeleau has a team-best 16 assists and 21 points and Kent Johnson is second with 14 assists and 20 points. Brendan Brisson and Michael Pastujov share the team goal lead with seven each.
- In goal, Strauss Mann is 8-7-0, with a 2.08 goals-against average and .926 save percentage. Erik Portillo is 3-0-0, with a 1.49 goals-against average and .948 save percentage.
Buckeye This and That
- Sophomore Tate Singleton has five goals and six points in the last eight games combined. He has six goals on the year, tying for the team high and matching the total he posted as a freshman last season.
- Sophomore Kamil Sadlocha has a goal in two of the last three games and has a career-high three tallies on the year.
- Grant Gabriele (4th/1.67), Layton Ahac (9th/1.55) and Ryan O’Connell (11th/1.50) rank among the Top 11 in the Big Ten in blocked shots per game.
- Gabriele has 10 points this season to lead the Buckeye blueliners and rank seventh (tied) among B1G defensemen in scoring.
- Quinn Preston is tied for sixth in the NCAA with three gamewinning goals.
- The Buckeyes have been outshot in 15 of 20 games this season and have allowed 27+ shots in all but two contests.
- Six Buckeyes have posted their first collegiate points this season – Patrick Guzzo (1g), Dominic Vidoli (1a), Matt Cassidy (1g, 2a), Joe Dunlap (1g), Evan McIntyre (2a) and Travis Treloar (6g, 10a). Mark Cheremeta, who had three assists as a freshman at BU, notched his first collegiate goal this year.
- Future Buckeyes Mason Lohrei (Green Bay/Feb. 3) and Cole McWard (Lincoln/Feb. 10) were named USHL Defenseman of the Week in back-to-back weeks.
Between the Pipes
- Senior Tommy Nappier started the Buckeyes’ first 17 games and 18 overall, making 520 saves on 573 shots faced. He is second nationally in saves and 11th in saves per game (28.89), ranking ninth in minutes played (1003:26).
- Nappier has 38 career wins, tying for 10th place in program history (with John Dougan). He crossed the 2,000-save mark vs. Minnesota Jan. 29 and now has 2,041, nearing the Top 10 in school history (2,215/Dougan) Nappier’s career goals-against average (2.21) and career save percentage (.927) are both among the Top 5 in the Ohio State record book.
- Senior Evan Moyse made the first start of his career Jan. 30 vs. Minnesota and has appeared in four games this season.
- Sophomore Ryan Snowden made his first start of the season in game two vs. Notre Dame Feb. 6. He has three appearances this year.
Special Teams
- Ohio State is 24th nationally on the power play, converting 13-of-67 (.194) chances.
- The squad is looking to end a three-game scoreless streak with the man advantage (0-for-9).
- The penalty kill is 57-for-74 (.770). After allowing a power play goal in just one game over a six-game stretch, the squad has given up at least one power play goal in each of the last three games.
- Quinn Preston leads the team with four power play tallies, while Grant Gabriele, Tate Singleton and Mark Cheremeta each have two PPG. Layton Ahac, Travis Treloar and Kamil Sadlocha have also converted with the man advantage.
- Preston is tied for 14th in the NCAA and second in the B1G in PPG.
Up Next
- The Buckeyes hit the road for two games at Wisconsin. The teams will meet at 8 p.m. ET Feb. 26 and at 5 p.m. ET Feb. 27. Sports Time Ohio and Fox Sports Wisconsin will televise game one and game two will be on Fox Sports Wisconsin. The games will also be streamed on BTN Plus and Ohio State Radio will carry the action.
- Ohio State will close its home schedule and the regular season at home against Arizona State March 4-5. Puck drop each night is set for 5:30 p.m. and the games will be on BTN Plus and Ohio State Radio.
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