And breathe. Ohio State, for whatever reason, finally got its sea legs this year against their most bitter rival, and certainly kept hope alive for their first postseason berth since the title game run of 2017. It's been a long time coming, but this was easily the most complete performance by the team yet. And they did it without their best player.

Ryan Terefenko missed this game, extending his absence to 4 games. Hard to imagine he'll be ready in time for the regular season at this rate, but who knows. The team's never been that forthcoming on much of anything.

Offensively, Mitchell Pehlke announced his presence with 2 goals and an assist, his first points in college. And what a day to do it. Pehlke just started seeing the field as a middie, and today made a case for being in the first two lines. Granted, TTUN isn't good defensively, and it's just one game. But what a way to make a statement.

Tre Leclaire and Jack Myers each contributed 4 points on the day. Myers had 3 goals and an assist, while Leclaire added 4 goals in the second half to slam the door shut on a Wolverine rally. Grant Mitchell added a pair of goals, also. Mitchell's quietly having a pretty good season.

The biggest news of the day has to be the defense. No idea what happened, why they clicked, or what's going on, but out of nowhere the Buckeyes held TTUN to just 18.75% shooting (6-32). That's astounding, especially considering how poor they'd been to this point. This was the Wolverines' worst day offensively all 2021, and full credit to the poles and shorties. They really clamped down, outside of the third quarter.

Alec van de Bovenkamp was solid on the day, recording 7 saves and only allowing 6 goals. That's pretty nice, considering how poorly the Wolverines were operating on O. And a breath of fresh air after the rocky start to the season between the pipes for Ohio State.

At the faceoff dot, Justin Inacio was a bit underwhelming, recording only 11 faceoff wins in 23 tries. The Wolverine run in Q3 was attributable to Inacio not getting possession pretty much the whole quarter, though it didn't mean much in the end. One bad day isn't worrisome. 

All in all, an absolutely glorious win for Ohio State. I'll make lots of criticisms when they're warranted, but today was (hopefully) a noticeable turning point for Ohio State. Defensively, they were lights out. Offensively, the Buckeyes were solid, but could have had a few more goals if they hadn't hit so many pipes. Lots and lots to like about today. Every game from here on out, though, is absolutely crucial. 

HUGE game against Rutgers in Piscataway next Saturday.

Go Bucks!