No. 15 Buckeyes Hit the Road for Series at Michigan State
1/20/2022 8:09:32 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
The Basics
- The No. 15 Ohio State men’s hockey team plays on the road for its next four games, starting at Michigan State this weekend.
- The teams will meet at 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday in Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Mich.
- Big Ten Plus will stream both games, with Ohio State Radio also on the call.
- Note Michigan State athletics requires spectators at indoor athletic events to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the event. Michigan State’s indoor mask mandate remains in effect for all home athletic events. For more information, visit MSUSpartans.com.
- Ohio State enters the series 16-7-1 overall with a Big Ten record of 8-5-1-0-1-1. Michigan State is 11-12-1 on the year and 5-9-0-1-0-0 in the B1G.
- The teams split a series in Columbus Oct. 29-30, with MSU winning 2-1 in game one and OSU posting a 5-1 win in game two.
- Ohio State trails the all-time series with Michigan State, 52-92-13, but is 21-10-3 in Big Ten play vs. the Spartans, with a 7-3-0 advantage in the last 10 games.
- In East Lansing last season, the Buckeyes won the opener, 5-1, and were shut out in game two, 2-0.
- The Buckeyes rank in the Top 10 in the NCAA in scoring offense, scoring defense, scoring margin, faceoff winning percentage and team winning percentage entering the series at Michigan State.
- This year, 24 Buckeyes – including every skater with more than two games played – have posted at least one point.
- Nineteen have at least one goal and 24 have one or more assists.
- Eighteen have at least one multi-point outing.
- Thirteen have 10+ points through the first 24 games.
- Twelve Buckeyes have notched a gamewinning goal and eight have scored on the power play.
- Of the Top 8 scorers, three are freshmen and three are seniors, along with a junior and a fifth-year.
- Ohio State has outscored opponents 46-15 in the third period this year. The Buckeyes have 39 goals in the first (15) and second (24) periods combined this season, allowing 19 and 18 goals, respectively.
- An Ohio State record 4,502 students were on hand at the Buckeyes’ game vs. Notre Dame last Friday.
From the Stat Sheet
- Freshman forward Georgii Merkulov leads the Buckeyes with 12 goals and 24 points, while his classmate, defenseman Mason Lohrei, has a team-best 17 assists and is tied with senior Jake Wise (7g, 12a) for second with 19 points each.
- Wise and senior Gustaf Westlund are tied for second with seven goals each.
- Freshman Cam Thiesing is second with 13 assists, followed by Merkulov and Wise with 12 and fifth-year senior Grant Gabriele with 11.
- Gabriele and thiesing are tied for first with a +16 rating, with Merkulov and Cheremeta tied for third at +13.
- Gabriele has a team-high 33 shot blocks. Will Riedell (31) is second and Lohrei and Ryan O’Connell (29) are tied for third.
- In goal, Jakub Dobeš is 15-6-1, with a 2.12 goals-against average and .929 save percentage.
- As a team (through games of Jan. 11), the Buckeyes are in the Top 10 in the NCAA in faceoff winning percentage (6th/.544), scoring offense (8th/3.62), scoring margin (8th/1.42), winning percentage (9th/.688), and scoring defense (10th/2.21).
Have a Game, Quinn
- Senior Quinn Preston had a game to remember Saturday vs. Notre Dame, with a hat trick and four points in a 4-1 win over the Irish.
- He was named Big Ten Second Star of the Week Tuesday, his first career league weekly honor.
- It was his first career hat trick and the first game for a Buckeye with three-plus goals since Carson Meyer scored four times March 6, 2020. The four points were a career best for Preston and the Buckeyes’ first four-point game of the season. He had four two-goal games and four three-point outings in his career before breaking both marks Saturday.
- This year, Preston has six goals, seven assists and 13 points, with a +8 mark.
Buckeyes vs. Spartans
- Ohio State trails the all-time series with Michigan State, 52-92-13, but is 21-10-3 in Big Ten play vs. the Spartans, with a 7-3-0 advantage in the last 10 games. In East Lansing, Michigan State leads 48-20-7.
- The last matchup in East Lansing was Jan. 23-24, 2001, with a split. The Buckeyes won the opener 5-1 before a 2-0 Spartan shutout win.
- Earlier this season in Columbus, the teams met Oct. 29-30. The Spartans took game one 2-1 before a 5-1 Ohio State victory.
- Quinn Preston leads the current Buckeyes with five goals, six assists and 11 points vs. Michigan State in 14 games. Gustaf Westlund (12 games vs. MSU) is second with five goals and six points vs. MSU. Mark Cheremta (6gp, 1g, 4a, 5p), Ryan O’Connell (14gp, 1g, 4a, 5p) and Travis Treloar (6gp, 2g, 3a, 5p) are tied for third with five points each vs. MSU.
- Michigan State is 11-12-2 this year and has a 5-9-0-1-0-0 Big Ten record. The Spartans played at Wisconsin last weekend, dropping two games (5-2, 3-2).
- The Spartans are scoring 2.33 goals a game, allowing 2.83 per contest. The power play is 15-for-73 (.205) and the penalty kill is 79-for-96 (.823).
- Mitchell Lewandowski leads the Spartans with 18 points and is second with 11 assists behind Jesse Tucker (14). Jeremy Davidson has a team-best nine goals, followed by Erik Middendorf with eight.
- In goal, Drew DeRidder has a 2.30 goals-against average and .937 save percentage (ranking fifth in the NCAA), with an 8-7-1 record. Pierce Charleson is 3-5-0, posting a 3.52 goals-against average and .910 save percentage.
In the Big
- In the Big Ten this year, teams are awarded three points in the conference standings for a win in regulation. If the game is tied following regulation, both teams receive one point, with a second point awarded to the team that wins in either the 3-on-3 overtime period or the shootout. Records reflect W-L-T-OTW-OTL-SW.
- Minnesota has two games in hand on the other six teams, who have all played 14 B1G contests heading into this weekend.
- Michigan (9-5-0-0-2-0) is in first with 29 points, followed by Ohio State (8-5-1-0-1-1) with 27. Minnesota is in third with 25 points (8-4-0-0-1-0) and Notre Dame is one point back with 24 (9-5-0-4-1-0). Wisconsin (5-8-1-1-1, 16 points), Michigan State (5-9-0-1-0-0, 14) and Penn State (3-11-0-1-1-0, 9) round out the standings.
- Ohio State has earned at least three points in each B1G series so far, with one sweep, a five-point weekend (W/SOW), a four-point weekend (OTL/W) and four splits. The Buckeyes end their regular season series earning seven of 12 points vs. the Irish.
Up Next
- The Buckeyes will play two 7 p.m. games at Penn State Jan. 28-29, streamed through B1G Plus and on Ohio State Radio.
- The team will return to Columbus for a four-game homestand, taking on Wisconsin Feb. 4-5 and Minnesota Feb. 11-12. Those games close out the regular season home slate.
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