: No. 8/7 Buckeyes Fall to No. 7/8 Gophers, 3-2
Ohio State closes regular season home slate Saturday
Release Online | Box Score | Postgame Press Conference
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 8/7 Ohio State men’s hockey team dropped game one of a Big Ten series against No. 7/8 Minnesota, 3-2, Friday in Value City Arena in The Schottenstein Center. The Buckeyes scored first, but Minnesota tallied twice in just over a minute later in the opening period and extended the lead to 3-1 with the only goal of the second. A Buckeye breakaway goal in the first minute of the third made it a one-goal game, but Ohio State could not get the equalizer.
Ohio State is now 21-8-2 on the year and 13-6-2-1-1-1 in Big Ten play. The loss was just the second for the Buckeyes in the last 16 games (12-2-2) and the first in regulation in the stretch. Minnesota improves to 18-11-0 and is 13-6-0-1-2-0 in league games.
Senior Night Saturday
The Buckeyes will wrap up their regular season home slate at 6 p.m. Saturday when the squad’s seven seniors will be recognized pregame (about 5:40 p.m.). The game will be televised by BTN and available on the Fox Sports app, as well as on Ohio State Radio. TICKET INFORMATION
Quoting head coach Steve Rohlik
On the game overall
“One-goal game. We talk to these guys a lot. It’s playoff hockey. You feel like you’re playing a decent game and you’re up one-zip, make two mistakes against a really good hockey team and next thing you know you’re down 2-1 after one. We tried to claw our way back and just didn’t quite have enough at the end. We lost to a really good hockey team.”
The Short Story
Buckeye freshman Cole McWard opened the scoring 6:41 into the game. The Gophers scored twice in a 1:19 span (17:19 and 18:38) to tie the game and take the lead and carried the 2-1 advantage into intermission. The only goal of the middle period was scored by the Gophers in the final two minutes, giving them a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes. Just 31 seconds into the third Joe Dunlap converted a breakaway for a one-goal game but Ohio State could not pull even despite outshooting the Gophers 11-5 in the third period, including four shots on a power play opportunity. The Buckeyes outshot the Gophers 34-31 in the game. Both teams were perfect on the penalty kill, with Ohio State 3-for-3 and Minnesota 2-for-2.
How It Happened
• Ohio State opened the scoring when Kamil Sadlocha found Cole McWard in the right faceoff circle and he scored his third goal of the season. Georgii Merkulov had the second assist on the goal, which came at 6:41.
• The Gophers tied the game on a Chaz Lucius goal at 17:19 and took the lead at 18:38 when Tristan Broz tallied on an odd-man chance.
• Shots were 16-11 in favor of Minnesota in the first period.
• In the second, the teams were scoreless until Aaron Huglen netted the eventual gamewinner at 15:14 after a Gopher faceoff win in the Buckeye zone.
• Ohio State had the shot advantage in the second, 12-10. The biggest save in the period came when Jakub Dobeš stopped a Gopher breakaway chance with Ohio State on the power play, keeping it a one-goal game at the time.
• Early in the third Joe Dunlap blocked a Gopher shot attempt and the puck went to Ryan O’Connell deep in the Buckeye zone. He found Dunlap in the middle of the ice and he scored on the breakaway.
• The Buckeyes outshot the Gophers 11-5 in the third. Ohio State had a power play chance at 9:23 and put four shots on goal and pulled Dobes in the final 1:09 but the Gopher defense closed out the win.
• Ohio State ended ahead in shots, 34-31. Dobeš made 28 saves in 58:51 for the Buckeyes. Mason Lohrei led the Buckeyes with three shot blocks.
Buckeye This and That
• Merkulov leads the Buckeyes with 32 points this year and has at least one point in each of his last four games (4g, 1a, 5p).
• Dobeš now has a 2.05 goals-against average and .937 save percentage.
• McWard scored his second goal in as many games. He has a 3-11-14 line this season.
• The Buckeyes are now averaging 3.68 goals a game, allowing 2.13 a night.
Recent Comments