No. 13 OSU Shuts Out No. 2 Penn State 3-0

Scoring Summary

Game Comparison

It’s often a back-breaker when a team scores a goal late in a period. The Buckeyes did that three times on Friday night to collect a win at home.

No. 2 Penn State came out a little slow at the start of the game. Within a few minutes, the team found its legs and began to dominate play. While the first period was played back and forth at a very fast pace, PSU held the advantage in terms of time in the offensive zone and in quality scoring chances.

That was nullified when Drew Brevig threw a shot past Penn State goalie Peyton Jones with just a couple of minutes remaining in the opening period. The second period unfolded almost exactly the same way. Penn State held a noticeable advantage on the ice, but with just 27 seconds left in the period OSU added a second goal to take a 2-0 lead heading into the final period.

In the final period Penn State once again dominated play on the ice but was unable to put the puck in the net. It was just one of those nights for the Lions. After having been held scoreless in just three total periods for the entire season, the team was held scoreless for three periods in one night, being shut out for the first time this season.

There’s no reason to panic. Penn State played a great game. The puck simply didn’t bounce favorably, and Ohio State played a good game and took advantage of the breaks that it got.

The teams will play game two of the series on Saturday at 8 p.m. The game is available on BTN plus.

Game Summary

The teams started off playing very fast and clean. There were very few whistles in the first 8 minutes. Ohio State was the first to break the 5 on 5 action when Mason Jobst was called for a hooking penalty. Penn State had some quality looks at the net during the power play but they were not able to find the back of the net.

After the penalty kill the teams went back to a fast-paced, end to end style of play. With just over 7 minutes remaining in the period, Penn State went on the power play once again. Kevin Miller went into PSU goalie Peyton Jones very hard with his elbow, dropping the freshman net-minder to the ice.

Dylan Richard scored with 45 seconds left on the power play, but after the referees reviewed the play the goal was called off. It was ruled that Richard kicked the puck into the net. The Buckeyes were once again able to kill the penalty and the teams went back to even strength for the final minutes of the period.

With 2:15 on the clock Drew Brevig broke the scoring ice when he beat Jones with a nifty shot. Using a screen by his teammate, Brevig threw a slow shot over Jones’ glove. The Lions dominated play in the period and it was a huge break for OSU to get the first score. The period ended with Penn State holding the puck in the Buckeye zone for roughly 20 seconds, firing shots at the goal without success.

The Lions came out in the second period skating with a purpose. Nikita Pavlychev had a chance to get the puck to Denis Smirnov for a scoring chance but was held from making the pass. As a result Penn State went on an early power play. The Buckeyes dominated the power play while short-handed, gaining several great shots on goal while down a man.

At the midway point of the second period Pavlychev had another great chance to get the puck from behind the net to a streaking Smirnov. A spinning, behind the back pass just missed its mark on what would have been a highlight-reel score for the pair of Russian freshmen.

With 8:35 left to go in the second period, Penn State made its first mistake when Trevor Hamilton took an interference penalty. Even without Hamilton, one of the best penalty-killers on the Lion’s squad, the penalty was killed off with ease. It was the 17th consecutive successful penalty kill for the Lions, dating back to November. OSU was forced to take its timeout following a 40-second stretch after the penalty where PSU held the puck in the Buckeye’s zone long enough to exhaust its defensive players.

With 3:23 remaining in the second period Penn State went on the power play again. Denis Smirnov had a great chance to score with the man advantage but was turned away. The Lions failed to score for the fourth time with the extra skater.

Just before the period ended, with 26.1 seconds left on the clock, OSU scored another strange goal. Off a face-off in front of Peyton Jones, Luke Stork took a bouncing puck off the draw and threw it in the net. It surprised the Penn State team and goalie Jones that the puck found Stork’s stick so quickly.

After two periods, Penn State dominated play but OSU had the advantage 2-0.

The third period was much of the same as PSU held the puck for most of the period but was unable to score. Brandon Biro and Erik Autio had great chances to score but OSU goalie Christian Frey turned them away. With five minutes left in the game PSU had a flurry of shots to no avail.

Denis Smirnov had a great chance to score with 3:25 left in the game but once again Frey gobbled it up. With 2:23 on the clock Guy Gadowsky pulled goalie Peyton Jones to give his team an extra attacker. Ohio State capitalized to ice the game when John Wiitala scored an empty-net goal. That is how the game ended, 3-0.

Stars of the Game

First Star- Christian Frey, goalie, Ohio State. Win, shutout, 46 saves.

Second Star- Luke Stork, forward, Ohio State. 1 goal 1 assist.

Third Star- Brendon Kearney, forward, Ohio State. 2 assists.