No. 9/8 Buckeyes Tie Nittany Lions, 6-6

Friday, January 24

University Park, Pa.

7 pm

Ohio State

15-6-2, 8-4-1

Penn State

10-10-3, 1-9-3

OT 1

OT 2

Ohio State

Penn State

Men's hockey defeats Minnesota 5-1, Jan. 10, 2025

Photo by: Ohio State Athletics

No. 9/8 Buckeyes Tie Nittany Lions, 6-6

1/24/2025 10:28:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score PDF Box Score

Ohio State now 15-6-2 on the year

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 9/8-ranked Ohio State men's hockey team ended its series opener at Penn State in a 6-6 tie Friday in University Park, Pa. The Nittany Lions won the shootout for the extra point in the Big Ten standings. The Buckeyes jumped out to a 3-0 lead but a Penn State goal run tied the game early in the third. In all, the teams combined for seven goals in the third, with each team leading at one point. Penn State tied the game with a late extra attacker goal.

Ohio State is now 15-6-2 overall, with an 8-4-1 2-1-0 Big Ten ledger. The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions (10-10-3, 1-9-3, 1-9-3 0-1-2) will close the weekend series at 5 p.m. Saturday. The game will be streamed through Big Ten Plus and can be heard on Ohio State Radio.

Quoting Buckeye head coach Steve Rohlik
"That was a crazy game - unfortunately we couldn't hold on at the end. The positive is we came away with a point and we get to come back tomorrow. We definitely need to be better defensively."

The Short Story
Ohio State led 1-0 after the first period and 3-0 at the 10:54 mark of the second. Penn State tallied the next three, with goals at 13:24 and 17:26 of the second and 1:52 of the third, for a 3-3 game.

The teams went on to combine for six goals before the end of regulation. The Buckeyes answered the Penn State goal 1:13 later for a 4-3 lead but the Nittany Lions responded just 60 seconds later (4-4). The Nittany Lions led for the first time with a goal at 9:16 but Ohio State tallied the next two – at 12:14 and 14:07 – to push ahead 6-5. With 12 seconds remaining, Penn State tied the game on an extra attacker goal.

Six Buckeyes scored a goal in the game and 14 had at least one point. Thomas Weis and Sam Deckhut each had a goal and an assist for two points, while Max Montes had two assists. The Buckeyes were 0-for-4 on the power play, with Penn State 1-for-3.

How it Happened

In the first period, after a faceoff in the Penn State zone, Nathan McBrayer picked up a clearing attempt and passed to Sam Deckhut. McBrayer jumped into an open lane and Deckhut found him, with McBrayer scoring at 16:27.
Ohio State had the first five shots on goal in the game and the teams ended the first with Penn State ahead, 9-8.
Two Buckeye goals from right in front – both set up by Max Montes – gave the Buckeyes a 3-0 lead. Montes found Thomas Weis for a one-timer at 5:40, with William Smith also assisting. At 10:54, Montes fed James Hong for a backhand goal and Weis had the second assist.
Penn State tallied the next two – at 13:24 and 17:26 – for a one-goal game through 40 minutes. Shots were 11-10 in favor of Ohio State in the second.
Dane Dowiak tied the game for the Nittany Lions 1:52 into the third.
The Buckeyes responded, as Theo Wallberg drove the zone and found Sam Deckhut on the left wing for a goal at 3:05. Ryan Gordon had the second helper on the tally.
Penn State notched the next two, with JJ Wiebusch scoring at 4:05 and Aiden Fink tallying on the power play goal at 9:16, for a 5-4 lead, its first of the game.
Less than three minutes later the Buckeyes again deadlocked the score, with Patrick Guzzo putting in the rebound of a Joe Dunlap shot just after a power play ended. Aiden Hansen-Bukata also assisted on the tally, which came at 12:14.
A Riley Thompson shot from the faceoff circle surprised the goalie and went in at 14:07 for a 6-5 Buckeye lead. Davis Burnside and Chris Able picked up the assists on the tally.
With time winding down and the Nittany Lion net empty, Penn State's Danny Dzhaniyev was able to score from the side of the net with 12.5 seconds remaining to again tie the score.
The teams combined for 28 shots in the third, with Penn State holding the advantage, 16-12.
In the five minutes of 3x3 overtime, Penn State put four shots on goal and Ohio State had two, but neither team could score.
A shootout was held to determine the extra Big Ten point.
After a scoreless first round, Penn State's Dylan Lugris scored and Ohio State was unable to answer to start the third round, giving the Nittany Lions the shootout win.
For the game, Ohio State was outshot, 39-33. The Buckeyes blocked 11 Nittany Lion shot attempts and Brent Johnson, Montes, Guzzo and Damien Carfagna led the way with two each for the Scarlet and Gray. Penn State blocked 14 Ohio State shot attempts.
Buckeye goalie Kristoffer Eberly had 33 saves in all 65 minutes and Penn State's Arsenii Sergeev made 27 stops in 63:54.
Ohio State was scoreless on four power play chances and the penalty kill was 2-for-3 in the game.

Noting the Buckeyes

Weis, who scored his first goal of the season, marked his first career two-point game with a goal and an assist. He was a career-best +4 in the game.
Deckhut had his third career multiple-point outing with a goal and a helper. He has a 5-4-9 line on the year.
Montes now has seven career two-point games and it was his second game with two assists, the first since Oct. 7, 2023 at Mercyhurst. He has 15 points on the year, with nine goals and six assists.
Hansen-Bukata extended his assist streak to seven and now leads the Buckeyes with 19 helpers on the year, tying for second with 20 points. He has 98 points in his collegiate career.
Burnside (8g, 12a) and Thompson (9g, 11a) also have 20 points on the year.
Fontaine, the Buckeyes' leading scorer with 24 points, had his eight-game scoring streak stopped.
The Buckeyes did not score on the power play for the first time in 10 games.
The 12 combined goals scored were the most in a game between Ohio State and Penn State, topping the 11 in a 7-4 Buckeye victory Feb. 20, 2016.