Ohio State 6, Penn State 3

Penn State put up a great effort but a few mistakes cost them the game. It isn’t easy to win on the road and the Buckeyes took advantage of the lapses on the defensive side by the visiting team.

The Lions gave up a goal in the first two minutes of each period, giving Ohio State a buffer to play with while they tried to make a comeback. Two of the goals came on breakaways and one was off a turnover in the Penn State zone. While all scores count equally, the rest of the game was dominated by the Lions.

There were a couple of times that it seemed like Penn State was poised to make the comeback but it wasn’t to be. If the team can win the second game and get a split for the series, that would be par for the course in conference play.

The teams will play game two on Saturday at 5:30 and will be streamed on BTN+. Following this series, the Lions will play 12 of the final 14 games at home.

How It Happened

The game started out rough for the Lions as goalie Oskar Autio let up a goal just a couple of minutes in. It has been a problem at times for the young Penn State goalies, taking a while to get settled down in a game. Autio let in another goal with 12 minutes to go in the first period and while the Lions were down a pair of goals, the team was playing hard.

The hard skating paid off when the Buckeyes were called for a penalty. Jimmy Dowd, Jr. put the puck in the back of the net from the point on a pass from Aarne Talvitie. Dowd had three shots toward the goal in less then 20 seconds and the final one got all the way through.

The second period was dominated by the Lions after they allowed an early goal to go down 3-1. The pressure put on the Buckeye defense forced three penalties, which made Guy Gadowsky’s team that much more excited. It took until the very end of the period but Aarne Talvitie, on a pass from Jimmy Dowd Jr., brought Penn State to within one goal entering the final period.

The Lions out-shot OSU 20-6 in the second period.

The third period started well for Penn State as the energy that they had continued to the final period. OSU got a breakaway and converted with a goal to get the lead back to 4-2 just two minutes in. The goal didn’t slow the Lions’ skates but it put the team in a precarious position. Two minutes later the Buckeyes added a power-play goal to take a 5-2 lead with 17 minutes left to play.

Evan Bell blasted a shot in for the third goal of the game for Penn State with a little more than a minute to play.

Penn State pulled Autio for an extra skater to try to cut the lead to 1 goal but instead the Buckeyes added an empty-netter to round out the scoring.