Buckeyes Notch 6-2 Road Win vs. No. 4 Spartans

Friday, February 23

East Lansing, Mich.

7:00 PM

Ohio State

12-15-4, 4-15-2

Michigan State University

20-8-3, 14-5-2

Ohio State

Michigan State

Photo by: Michael Caples

Buckeyes Notch 6-2 Road Win vs. No. 4 Spartans

2/23/2024 10:03:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men's hockey team opened its series at No. 4 Michigan State with a 6-2 victory Friday in Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Mich. The win was the third in a row for the Buckeyes, all against No. 4-ranked teams.

The Buckeyes (12-15-4, 4-15-2 B1G) and Spartans (20-8-3, 14-5-2 B1G) will close the weekend and season series at 6 p.m. Saturday. The game will be streamed through B1G+ and on Ohio State Radio. This series marks the final regular season road games of the season for the Buckeyes.

Friday, Michigan State opened the scoring early but a Sam Deckhut goal tied the game and the teams went into intermission deadlocked at 1. The Buckeyes scored the first three goals of the second for a 4-1 lead. MSU tallied late in the stanza to draw within two, but that was as close as the Spartans would get. Two Buckeye goals in the third closed out the win. Deckhut, a freshman, led Ohio State with two goals, the first of his collegiate career, and Stephen Halliday, William Smith and Theo Wallberg each had two assists. In all, 11 Buckeyes got on the scoresheet. Brent Johnson and Damien Carfagna led Ohio State with five shot blocks each, as the team had 26 blocks for the game. Ohio State was outshot 36-33 and goalie Logan Terness made 34 saves.

Quoting head coach Steve Rohlik
"This was a good win for our guys on the road against one of the top teams in our league. I'm happy for them. We know we need to be better tomorrow and we know we can be. We'll get ready for game two."

How it Happened

The Spartans took advantage of an early power play and scored just 1:50 into the contest, with Gavin O'Connell tallying from right in front.
Buckeye freshman Sam Deckhut tied the game at 8:39, as he snuck behind the MSU defense and Dalton Messina found him all alone in front. William Smith also assisted on the goal, Deckhut's first as a Buckeye.
Ohio State outshot Michigan State 19-10 in the first 20 minutes and blocked 10 MSU shot attempts.
Scooter Brickey put the Buckeyes in the lead at 11:38 of the second with a power play tally, scoring through a screen. Theo Wallberg and Patrick Guzzo set up the Brickey goal, his 10th of the season.
Deckhut netted his second of the night at 16:37, assisted by his freshmen teammates Smith and Ryan Gordon. Deckhut put in the rebound of a Smith shot right outside the crease.
Ohio State converted on a major power play at 17:41 for a 4-1 lead. Stephen Halliday weaved through the Spartan defense and set up Cam Thiesing for a one-timer. Wallberg had the second helper on the tally, Thiesing's ninth this year.
A Buckeye penalty put the teams 4x4 during the major and the Spartans drew within two (4-2) at 19:33 on O'Connell's second of the game.
Ohio State was outshot 15-7 in the second period.
Michael Gildon pushed the lead to 5-1 at 9:38 of the third. He forced a turnover outside the Spartan zone and went in alone on the goalie, scoring on a backhand.
The Buckeyes' final goal came at 11:47. Halliday drove behind the Spartan net and his wraparound attempt went to Davis Burnside at the far post and he was there to put it home.
The Spartans outshot Ohio State 11-7 in the final 20 minutes.
For the game, Michigan State had the shot advantage, 35-33. Buckeye goalie Logan Terness made 34 saves in all 60 minutes. Ohio State had 26 shot blocks, led by Brent Johnson and Damien Carfagna with five each.
The Buckeyes were 2-for-5 on the power play, their first goals with the man advantage in five games, and the penalty kill was 3-for-4.

Buckeye This and That

Halliday has a team-best 22 assists and 32 points and has five points (1g, 4a) in his last three games combined.
Brickey and Halliday share the team goal-scoring lead with 10. Brickey is the first Buckeye defenseman with at least 10 goals since Ryan Root in 1997-98. He has five points (1g, 4a) in the last three games and is second on the team with 23 points.
Burnside has a goal in three straight games. He ranks third on the squad with 22 points.
Smith had his first career two-point game with two helpers.
Wallberg is second on the team with 17 assists and had his third multiple-assist night.