COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 9 Ohio State used three second period goals including a pair of 4-on-4 tallies just 44 seconds apart en route to a 5-1 victory over No. 10 Penn State in game one of the Big Ten Quarterfinals on Friday evening inside Value City Arena.
The Nittany Lions drop to 20-14-1 on the year while Ohio State improves to 19-13-3 overall.
Penn State will be in familiar territory tomorrow facing elimination in Columbus for the second-straight year. The Nittany Lions are 4-0 all-time in Big Ten quarterfinal elimination games since the conference adopted the best-of-three series prior to the 2017-18 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Buckeyes opened the scoring early and never looked back as Davis Burnisde finished off a pass from Stephen Halliday during an odd-man rush for the 1-0 edge at 4:31 of the first period.
- Ohio State extended the lead early in the middle frame as Tyler Duke sniped a low wrister past the blocker of Nittany Lion junior goaltender Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) from the right circle for the 2-0 edge at the 4:34 mark.
- Just 44 seconds later and from the other side of the ice it was Cam Theising ripping one top shelf for the 3-0 margin at the 5:18 mark.
- The Buckeyes continued to pour it on in the second period as Cole McWard ripped a one-timer on the powerplay for the 4-0 edge at the 13:58 mark.
- Senior Ture Linden (Great Falls, Va.) ended the shutout bid midway through the third period as he slid the puck into a yawning net during the powerplay for the 4-1 deficit at the 11:00 mark.
- Ohio State regained the four-goal margin as Halliday slipped the puck past Souliere for the 5-1 lead at 12:02 of the third period.
GOALTENDING
Souliere drops to 17-13-1 after making 34 saves in the loss while his counterpart, Jakub Dobes, moves to 19-13-3 on the year after stopping 33-of-34 shots in the victory.
NOTES
- Ohio State held the 39-35 edge in shots on goal marking just the fifth time in 35 games this season the Nittany Lions have been out shot, four of those have come at the hands of the Buckeyes.
- Penn State went 1-for-3 with the man-advantage while the Buckeyes were 1-for-5.
- The opening goal for the Ohio State marked just the 12th time in 35 games this season that the Nittany Lions have failed to score first. Penn State is now just 4-8-0 in such games following the loss.
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.