No. 4 Men's Hockey Uses Three Unanswered Goals to Defeat No. 17 Ohio State, 3-2, in B1G Opener

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Buckeyes opened the scoring early in the first period as Broten Sabo ripped a slapshot from the high point that deflected off a Nittany Lion defender and over the blocker of sophomore goaltender Kevin Reidler (Gavle, Sweden) for the 1-0 edge just 79 ticks in.
• Ohio State then extended the lead with an early powerplay goal as Riley Thompson redirected a shot by Davis Burnside through Reidler at the near post for the 2-0 edge at 4:12 of the first period.
• Penn State thought they had cut the deficit in half just 10 seconds later as freshman Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) ripped in a rebound, however, the Buckeyes challenged for goaltender interference on Shea Van Olm and were victorious negating the goal and maintaining the 2-0 lead.
• The Nittany Lions would eventually cut the deficit in half with a powerplay goal as McKenna sent a beautiful slap pass to sophomore JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) at the far post and he out waited Buckeye net-minder Kristoffer Eberly sliding across the crease before slipping the puck into the yawning net for the 2-1 score at 14:13 of the middle frame.
• Penn State found the equalizer midway through the third period as junior Dane Dowiak (Pittsburgh, Pa.) deposited a beautiful kick-pass by sophomore Nic Chin-DeGraves (Edmonton, Alberta) between the rings for the 2-2 score at the 10:14 mark.
• The visitors then secured their first lead of the game just 97 ticks later as a strong forecheck led to freshman Luke Misa (Oakville, Ontario) getting loose in the slot and he picked the far corner for his first collegiate goal and the 3-2 edge at 11:51 of the third period.

GOALTENDING

Reidler moves to 5-1-0 on the year following a 28-save effort while Eberly falls to 4-3-0 on the season after stopping 34 shots in the loss.

NOTES

• Penn State held the 37-30 edge in shots on goal including the commanding 30-15 clip over the final two periods while going 1-for-8 on the man-advantage in the game. The Nittany Lions have now scored at least one man-advantage goal in all nine games this season. The Buckeyes went 1-for-7 on the powerplay.
• Penn State is now 4-0-0 on the year when trialing entering the third period and move to 7-5-1 in Big Ten openers while running their record to an even 4-4-0 when the conference opener is played on the road.
• Wiebusch the nation’s leading goal scorer notched his 10th of the season and has now scored in four-straight games, one game shy of his career-long streak from last season. The goal was the 10th powerplay goal of his career moving him into a tie with David Goodwin ’17 for ninth on the Penn State career PPG’s list. It was also his fifth man-advantage marker of the season tying him for the national lead.
• McKenna now has points in three-straight games for the second time this season while his 11 points continue to pace all first-year players nationally.
• Excluding empty net goals 18 of the last 21 games between these two programs have been one-goal contests.