No. 6 Men's Hockey Erases Three-Goal Deficit, Defeats Ohio State, 5-4, in OvertimeNo. 6 Men's Hockey Erases Three-Goal Deficit, Defeats Ohio State, 5-4, in Overtime

No. 6 Men's Hockey Erases Three-Goal Deficit, Defeats Ohio State, 5-4, in Overtime

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 6 Penn State erased a three-goal deficit to defeat Ohio State, 5-4, in overtime as freshman Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) notched the golden goal in Big Ten Conference action at Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday evening.

McKenna finished the week with 10 points on two goals and eight assists as he now leads all freshman in the Big Ten with 43 points on the season to rank second in the nation among first-year players and tied for fifth overall.

Penn State moves to 20-9-1 and 12-7-1 in Big Ten play with the victory while the Buckeyes fall to 11-18-1 on the year and 7-13-0 in conference action following the loss. PSU’s 12 conference victories this season are tied for the program record dating back to the 2019-20 season when the Nittany Lions also secured 12 conference wins and earned their first regular-season championship.

The Nittany Lions secured home ice in the B1G Quarterfinals with a five-point weekend as they currently sit third in the conference with 38 points and can finish no lower than fourth regardless of outcomes over the final two weeks of the regular season.

Penn State has reached the 20-win mark for the second-consecutive season and the seventh time overall. The Nittany Lions program record for wins dates back to 2016-17 when they finished the season 25-12-2. The Nittany Lions are 13-4-0 at home this season with the 13 wins ranking two shy of a single-season record.  

OT_WIN_OSU

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The Buckeyes opened the scoring with a goal against the run of play as Sam McGinley sent an innocent puck off the end wall and it bounced to the front of the net and Sam Deckhut deposited the loose puck into the net for the 1-0 edge at 5:24 of the first period.
  • Penn State responded late, eventually capitalizing late on a major powerplay as junior Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) used the extra pass finding freshman Shea Van Olm (Calgary, Alberta) and the rookie wristed the puck bar-down from the far faceoff circle for the 1-1 score with just 55 ticks remaining in the first frame.
  • Ohio State regained the lead cashing in on a powerplay of its own as Felix Caron fired one from the low slot past the glove of Nittany Lion sophomore goaltender Kevin Reidler (Gavle, Sweden) for the 2-1 advantage at 3:52 of the second period.
  • OSU extended the lead to a pair just over two minutes later as Deckhut secured his second of the game as he redirected a Broten Sabo blast from the point past Reidler for the 3-1 score at the 5:55 mark.
  • The Buckeyes continued to push scoring a shorthanded goal as Max Montes roofed the puck over the glove of Reidler for the 4-1 lead at 12:08 of the middle frame.
  • The Nittany Lions responded as freshman Lev Katzin (Thornhill, Ontario) went coast-to-coast darting through defenders before feeding sophomore JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) and he beat Ohio State net-minder Kristoffer Eberly far side past the glove for the 4-2 deficit at the 14:36 mark.
  • Penn State used that momentum and evened the contest early in the third period scoring twice in a 37-second span over the opening three minutes as Wiebusch had a backdoor tap-in courtesy of a beautiful slap-pass from McKenna at the 210 mark, before senior Jarod Crespo (Seven Lakes, N.C.) finished off the rush for the 4-4 score at 2:47 of the final stanza.
  • The remainder of the third period went scoreless setting up the thrilling overtime finish as McKenna dangled a Buckeye and picked the far corner past the blocker of Eberly for the 5-4 victory at the 2:40 mark of the extra session.

GOALTENDING

  • Reidler moves to 11-5-0 on the year after making 33 saves in the victory while Eberly drops to 7-12-1 overall after stopping 25 shots in the loss.
  • The win for Reidler moves him into ninth on the Penn State single-season wins list and he is now seventh all-time in career wins for the Blue & White.

NOTES

  • Ohio State held the, 37-30, edge in shots on goal while going 1-for-4 on the man-advantage. Penn State was 2-for-6 on the powerplay in the game and 7-for-11 on the weekend.
  • The Nittany Lions finish the regular season 4-0-0 against Ohio State securing 11-of-12 points from the Buckeyes and are now 14-7-1 in the last 22 meetings between the two teams including a 9-3-1 mark over the last three seasons.
  • With one goal and one assist, McKenna collects his 12th multi-point game of the season while his 43 points are now the second-most all-time by a Nittany Lion freshman, just four shy of Dens Smirnov’s ’20 program record of 47. His 43 points are also tied with Evan Barratt for the fourth-most in a single-season all time while his 30 assists tie Fink’s single-season program record from last season.
  • Fink also tallied his second-straight multi-point game with a pair of assists for his ninth multi-point effort of the season and the 33rd of his career as he moves past Smirnov and into a tie with Brandon Biro ’20 for fifth on the all-time points list.
  • With a pair of assists, Smith now has 24 points on the season to move past assistant coach Vince Pedrie and into a tie with Luke Juha for the seventh-most points in a single-season by a Nittany Lion defenseman and the most by a rookie defenseman all-time surpassing Pedrie’s 2015-16 total. He also secured his second-straight multi-point game and his seventh of the season.
  • Laubach, playing in his 100th career game, continued his hot streak with pair of assists giving him points in four-straight games, just one shy of his career-long point streak. The junior also now has points in nine of his last 10 games and has a 6-9—15 in 14 games since the holiday break. The junior secured his fourth multi-point game of the season and the 17th of his career on Saturday night.
  • With a pair of goals, Wiebusch collects his second multi-goal game this season and the third of his career while also registering his 11th multi-point effort of the season and the 19th of his career.
  • Wiebusch also joins DiMarsico and Smith with seven powerplay goals on the season to tie for the second-most in a single-season all-time, trailing only Fink who potted eight powerplay goals in each of his first two seasons in Hockey Valley.
  • Penn State now has six wins this season when trailing after two periods after not having a single victory in such games a season ago.

NEXT UP

Penn State hits the road for the final time in the regular season with a Big Ten Conference series in South Bend against Notre Dame next Friday and Saturday evening with both games being broadcast on Peacock.

For more information on the 2025-26 season, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.