Buckeyes Fall to No. 4 Minnesota, 5-1
Teams close regular season series at 5 p.m. Saturday on BTN
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s hockey team opened a four-game homestand with a 5-1 loss to No. 4 Minnesota Friday in Value City Arena. The Gophers led 2-0 after the first, extended the lead to 3-0 after 40 minutes and added two in the third before the Buckeyes got on the board with a power play goal.
The Buckeyes (5-11-1, 5-10-0-0-1-0 B1G) and Gophers (14-3-0, 10-3-0-0-0-0 B1G) wrap up the regular season series at 5 p.m. Saturday in Columbus, with the game on BTN, the Fox Sports app and Ohio State radio.
Quoting Ohio State head coach Steve Rohlik
On giving up a shorthanded goal early in the first period
“Against good teams – the top team in our league right now – we preach you can’t beat yourself. Probably three of the first goals, I think we almost gave them those goals. You can’t help teams like that so it was disappointing. We shouldn’t have let that first one affect us like that but I did think it changed things.”
Ohio State vs. Minnesota
In the First … The Gophers got on the board at 6:32, scoring a shorthanded goal on the Buckeyes’ first power play of the night. Jackson LaCombe had the tally, the second shorthanded goal allowed by the Buckeyes this season. At 11:29 Sampo Ranta drove the net and scored for the Gophers. Shots were 15-8 in favor of Minnesota in the period and each team had one power play.
In the Second … The only goal came at 7:07, when Sammy Walker tallied for Minnesota. The teams combined for 15 shots, with the Gophers ahead, 8-7. Each team had two power play opportunities.
In the Third … Minnesota scored at 1:17 and 8:27 to push its lead to 5-0. At 15:41 the Buckeyes broke up the shutout, with Quinn Preston tallying his sixth goal of the year, tying for the team high and marking his team-best fourth power play goal. Mark Cheremeta had the first assist, his team-leading 10th helper of the year, and Grant Gabriele, who took the shot to start the play, had the second helper. Minnesota had the advantage in shots, 10-3. The Buckeyes had the only power play of the stanza.
Shots … The Buckeyes were outshot, 33-18. Tommy Nappier had 25 saves on 30 shots in 48:27 for the Buckeyes. Evan Moyse closed out the game, playing 11:33 and stopping the three shots he faced.
Ohio State had 14 shot blocks in the contest. Collin Peters, Gabriele, CJ Regula and Ryan Dickinson each had two.
Special Teams … The Buckeyes were 1-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill in the game. The power play goal ended a streak of three straight games without a PPG and the team is now 13-for-58 (.224) on the year. Ohio State has not allowed a power play goal in the last three outings. The team is 47-for-57 (.825) this season.
Recent Comments