No. 7 Buckeyes Drop 4-3 Game to No. 9 Penn State

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 7 Ohio State men’s hockey team rallied from two goals down and tied the game in the third period, but No. 9 Penn State scored with less than three minutes remaining and closed out a 4-3 win over the Buckeyes in Columbus.

Penn State scored the game’s first two goals and Ohio State trailed 2-1 after 20 minutes. Each team scored once in the second, with Ohio State answering 1:06 after a PSU goal, for a 3-2 Nittany Lion lead heading to the third. The Buckeyes converted on the power play at 12:01 of the final period to tie the game but Penn State pushed back ahead at 17:40. Freshman Stephen Halliday led Ohio State with three assists and points, while Tate Singleton had a goal and a helper for two points. The Buckeyes, who outshot Penn State 35-26, were 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 1-for-2 on the power play.

Ohio State, now 16-11-1 on the year and 9-9-0-0-0 in the Big Ten, and Penn State (20-9-1, 9-9-1-0-2-0 B1G) will wrap up the series at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Value City Arena. The game is sold out, but Ohio State students will be admitted free with BuckID. BTN will televise the matchup, with the stream through the Fox Sports app, and Ohio State Radio will carry the action.

Coach Rohlik and Tate Singleton spoke after tonight's loss to Penn State. pic.twitter.com/Gg1l3CLH9G

— Ohio State Men's Hockey (@OhioStateMHKY) February 4, 2023

The Short Story

Penn State scored on an odd-man rush at 4:49 to open the scoring and pushed the lead to 2-0 at 14:38, tallying from in close.
Tate Singleton notched the first Buckeye goal. Stephen Halliday took a pass from James Marooney and skated into the PSU zone. He put the puck toward the net and Singleton was there to knock it home for his seventh goal of the year at 16:14.
In the second, Connor MacEachern tallied his second of the night. Simon Mack put the puck off the back wall from the Penn State zone and MacEachern won the race, scoring on the fly at 12:00.
Buckeye rookie Davis Burnside answered 1:06 later. Halliday again found Singleton down low. His shot was saved, but Burnside was there for the rebound at 13:06.
Penn State had the shot advantage in the first, 9-7, with Ohio State ahead in the second, 14-11.
The Buckeyes had two power play chances in the third period and tied the game on the second opportunity. Mason Lohrei held the puck up high and left it for Jake Wise and he scored from the top of the circle at 12:01 to deadlock the game at three. Halliday picked up his third assist of the night on the goal.
Kevin Wall’s second goal of the night put Penn State back on top, as he scored from inside the Buckeye blue line at 17:40.
Ohio State put 14 shots on net in the third, holding Penn State to six.
For the game, the Buckeyes outshot the Nittany Lions, 35-26. Penn State entered the series first nationally in shots on goal per game (41.0), with the Buckeyes third in the NCAA (35.8).
The Buckeyes combined for 11 shot blocks as a team, led by Tyler Duke, Scooter Brickey and Halliday with two each. Penn State had 18 shot blocks. Jakub Dobes made 22 saves in the Ohio State net in 58:51.
Ohio State was 1-for-2 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, with one stop in each period.

Buckeye This and That

Halliday had his fourth three-assist game and fifth three-point night in the Scarlet and Gray. The freshman leads the Buckeyes with 28 points and 21 assists.
Burnside is first for the Buckeyes with 12 goals this season.
Lohrei is second with 20 assists and tied with Singleton for third in scoring with 21 points. Wise is second on the squad with 24 points, including nine goals.
Singleton had his 11th career multiple-point game with a goal and an assist. He has a career-high 14 assists and 21 points this season.
The Buckeyes are among the NCAA leaders on the penalty kill, stopping 95-of-107 (.888) opponent chances.
The Ohio State power play is 25-for-113 (.221).
The first three games between Ohio State and Penn State this season have all been decided by one goal.