COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 9 Penn State fought hard right to the end in a back-and-forth affair, however, No. 7 Ohio State secured the 4-2 victory to split the weekend series in Big Ten Conference action on Saturday evening inside Value City Arena.
The Nittany Lions fall to 19-10-1 overall and 9-10-1-0-2-0 in Big Ten play with the loss while the Buckeyes improve to 17-10-1 on the year and 10-8-0-0-0-0 in conference action with the loss. The two teams split the season series each earning six points with two wins and two losses and are currently tied for second in the Big Ten standings with 30 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Ohio State opened the scoring as a loose puck above the right circle found the stick of Jaedon Leslie and he snuck one over the glove of Nittany Lion junior net-minder Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) for the 1-0 edge at 17:16 of the first period.
- Penn State evened the contest midway through the second period as senior Paul DeNaples (Moscow, Pa.) forked one out front from the near half wall and classmate Tyler Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) was the beneficiary in the net mouth slipping the puck past the far pad of Buckeye goaltender Jakub Dobes for the 1-1 score at the 11:18 mark.
- The Buckeyes regained the lead early in the third period as Davis Burnside deposited a far side rebound into a yawning net for the 2-1 advantage at the 2:47 mark.
- Penn State wasted little time finding the equalizer as junior Jimmy Dowd Jr. (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) picked the corner through a screen and past Dobes from the slot for the 2-2 score at 4:54 of the third period.
- Ohio State regained the lead late in the third period as Tate Singleton redirected a shot pass from Cole McWard for the 3-2 lead at 15:28 of the third period.
- McWard hit the empty net late at 17:58 of the third period to account for the 4-2 final.
GOALTENDING
Souliere drops to 16-9-1 after stopping 33 shots in the defeat while Dobes improves to 17-10-1 this season after making 32 saves in the victory.
NOTES
- Penn State was outshot for just the third time all season and second-straight, all against Ohio State, as the Buckeyes held the 37-34 edge. Neither team was able to capitalize with the man-advantage with the Nittany Lions going 0-for-3 and OSU 0-for-2.
- The opening goal for Ohio State marked just the ninth time in 30 games this season that Penn State has failed to score first. The Nittany Lions move to 4-5-0 in such games.
- With his second period goal Tyler Gratton now has points in three-straight games one shy of his career-best four-game point streak from earlier this season.
- The goal for Dowd snapped an 11-game pointless streak for the junior defenseman.
NEXT UP
Penn State takes next weekend off before returning to Pegula Ice Arena to close out the regular-season with four-straight home contests beginning with No. 1 Minnesota on February 17-18. Both games will air nationally on B1G Network.
For more information on the 2022-23 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: 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.