COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 9/10 Penn State skated to a 2-2 tie in Columbus against No. 13/13 Ohio State, but the Buckeyes secured the extra point in the Big Ten standings with a goal in the second round of the shootout on Friday night at Value City Arena.
The Nittany Lions now sit 17-9-3 on the year and 9-7-3-0 in conference play while Ohio State moves to 16-9-4 overall and 9-7-3-1 in Big Ten action moving into sole possession of first place in the conference standings one point clear of Penn State.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State opened the scoring early as junior Evan Barratt (Bristol, Pa.) batted the puck out of mid-air and into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead after senior Liam Folkes (Scarborough, Ontario) had his initial shot saved by OSU net-minder Tommy Nappier at the 1:44 mark of the first period.
- The Nittany Lions extended the lead to 2-0 with a power-play tally as junior Cole Hults (Stoughton, Wis.) sniped past Nappier from the high slot after a clean faceoff win by senior Nate Sucese (Fairport, N.Y.) at 11:39 of the opening frame.
- The Buckeyes cut the deficit in half as Jaedon Leslie picked up the puck at the blue-line and cut through the slot firing back over the blocker of PSU senior goaltender Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) for the 2-1 deficit at 5:18 of the second period.
- Ohio State got the equalizer early in the third period as Gordi Myer received a drop-pass and fired far side past the blocker of Jones for the 2-2 score at 1:58 of the final frame.
- Sam McCormick scored for the Buckeyes in the second round of the shootout to secure the extra Big Ten point.
GOALTENDING
Jones drops to 15-8-2 on the year after turning aside 33-of-35 shots while Nappier improves to 13-8-3 overall following a 29 save performance.
NOTES
- Ohio State held the 35-31 edge in shots while Penn State went 1-for-1 on the power-play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
- Senior defenseman James Gobetz played in the 100th game of his career on Friday night.
- With assists on Barratt's first period goal, Folkes and junior Alex Limoges (Winchester, Va.) are each now just three points shy of 100 for their careers.
- With his first period goal, Hults has now tied his single-season career high with six on the season and with 15 for his career he has tied Luke Juha '16 for the third most all-time at Penn State for defensemen. His six goals this season are also now tied for the most in the Big Ten for defensemen.
- Hults' man-advantage tally snapped a streak of 10-straight unsuccessful power-plays for Penn State.
- Penn State is now 0-2 in shootouts this season having failed to score on all nine attempts. The Nittany Lions also move to 1-1-3 in overtime games this season.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to the Schottenstein Center tomorrow to conclude the season series with a 5 p.m. puck drop.
For more information on the 2019-20 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: the Official Bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.