Penn State men’s hockey is rarely outshot. The Nittany Lions are rarely defeated in the raucous confines of Pegula Ice Arena. Saturday was a rare day, indeed, for Ohio State as the visitors claimed victory in the shot count and on the scoreboard, quieted the PSU crowd, and spoiled the senior celebration for Penn State.
The Buckeyes dominated much of the first period. They had open look after open look. This time around, they didn’t waste those chances.
| scoring by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 3 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| No. 15 Penn State | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
After seeing his point streak snapped in Friday night’s game, Dave Gust looked determined to start a fresh one on Saturday. The junior took advantage of an early power play and a smart pass from Nick Schilkey to do just that. He spun around and tapped home his eighth goal of the year.
Gust generated a second score for Ohio State at the 6:49 mark. He sped off on a breakaway. Penn State goalie Matt Skoff denied the attempt but by that time the Buckeyes had caught up with Gust. Freshman defenseman Tommy Parran stepped into an open patch of ice and whipped his first collegiate goal in off the iron.
Two minutes later another freshman, Freddy Gerard, stretched the Buckeye lead to 3-0 with a sniper’s tally. On each of Ohio State’s goals the Penn State defense was notably absent. The Buckeyes made the most of these open opportunities.
The Bucks continued to apply pressure to the Nittany Lion net, but impressive goaltending from Skoff and a few too many passes on the part of Ohio State kept Penn State in the game.
| pd | time | buckeye goal scorers (assists) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:31 | PP - Dave Gust (Nick Schilkey, Matt Weis) |
| 1 | 6:49 | Tommy Parran (John Wiitala, Dave Gust) |
| 1 | 8:47 | Freddy Gerard (Nick Schilkey, Josh Healey) |
| 3 | 5:00 | Matt Weis (Josh Healey, Nick Schilkey) |
| 3 | 5:42 | John Wiitala (Craig Dalrymple, Mason Jobst) |
| 3 | 14:55 | Matt Weis (Freddy Gerard, Nick Schilkey) |
| 3 | 19:34 | EN - Anthony Greco (Josh Healey, Dakota Joshua) |
The home team chipped into the Buckeye lead late in the period. Chase Berger potted his thirteenth goal of the year, tapping a pass past Ohio State netminder Matt Tomkins which the goalie had little chance of stopping.
OSU continued its offensive assault in the middle frame, outshooting Penn State 19-13. However it was the Nittany Lions finding the back of the net. Midway through, Andrew Sturtz beat Tomkins with a deceptively innocent-looking shot. David Goodwin then converted a late 4-on-3 power play into a game tying goal.
Three minutes into the third period, Kevin Kerr scored to put the Nittany Lions up 4-3. But the Buckeyes were not about to fade away. They ramped up the pressure once again, backing Penn State’s defenders up and creating space. OSU’s blue-liners took advantage of the breathing room.
Josh Healey set up a swift strike by Matt Weis. Less than a minute later a Craig Dalrymple bomb leaked through Skoff. John Wiitala helped it across the line, regaining the lead for Ohio State.
Then the Buckeyes landed the knock out punch. Weis sailed through the neutral zone and rattled the thin mints for a 6-4 advantage. Anthony Greco applied a little icing to the victory cake with a empty net tally in the final seconds.
Ohio State outshot Penn State 42-34 in the win. Tomkins didn’t look particularly comfortable in net for but stopped 30 shots and battled to his fourth victory of the season. On special teams, the Buckeye power play scored once in two tries. The penalty killers were a big factor once again, thwarting PSU four out of five times.
With the win the Buckeyes improve to 4-8-2-1 in the Big Ten and 9-17-2 overall. They look to better that mark next week as they host Wisconsin and hold their own Senior Night.
- Six Buckeyes recorded multiple points in the win: Matt Weis (2g, 1a), Nick Schilkey (4a), Josh Healey (3a), Dave Gust, John Wiitala, and Freddy Gerard(1g, 1a).
