It was another slow, frustrating start from Ohio State. Like many games in the past, the Buckeyes struggled to score, or stop their opponents from Utah. The first 15 minutes ended with a 4-1 Utah lead, and the Buckeyes were all out of sorts.
Unlike many, many past games, however, the Buckeyes didn't break under the pressure. Even with horrible offense, the team stayed together, amd chipped away. Utah scored its 6th goal with 7:34 left or so, and would only score twice more the rest of the game.
We will talk about the offense, and especially Gannon Matthews, but really we need to highlight how big an addition Eli Fisher was this off-season. Fisher had 3 caused turnovers at a spot the Buckeyes have struggled mightily with since Ryan Terefenko left. Connor Cmiel also had 3 caused turnovers, making this easily the best outing in years for that group.
Surprise starter Henry Blake saved 10 shots, blowing my mind. And the close defense did its job very well.
On offense, it was the Gannon Matthews show. Matthews took 10 of OSU's 39 shots, and scored on half of them. With an assist, Matthews got to 6 points, and showed just how much improvement he has made since coming out of Idaho. Myers should be thanking his lucky stars that Matthews is such a stud, because everyone else was awful. Ben Mayer chipped in 2 goals, but that was it for contributions from anywhere else. Matthews is going to start getting LSM assignments, and then we will see how the team does.
On a related note, the choices made in offensive personnel continue to absolutely astound me. Kurt Bruun deserves more run. At middie or attack. Ari Allen was either hurt or cramping by the end of the game. That's not good. Garrett Haas had no impact, while Alex Marinier went 0-4 shooting.
I will never understand what the Myers offense is, or how decisions are made. It's just baffling. Kyle Lewis has done nothing in the Scarlet and Gray, but Haas takes zero shots? I am so confused.
Tommy Burke, thus far, is easily the best the Buckeyes could have hoped for at FOGO after turning the position over completely. Burke won 14 of 23 faceoffs, kept the Buckeyes in it early, and started the run that sealed the game in the second half. Kudos, Mr. Burke.
Buckeyes were 2-3 on Man Up, too. All around, a good day. And less close than even I predicted.
A good win, a good start, and a few tuneups to go before things kick off in earnest at the end of the month.
Go Bucks!
