Efficient. For all of the struggles of the early season, today's win can be summed up perfectly by that one word. Ohio State methodically poured it on Air Force like all of Nick Myers' best teams. Picking spots, dominating the faceoff, good defense, and slowly squeezing the life out of teams.

That's the recipe for Buckeye success under Nick Myers, and it's really a thing of beauty when everything comes together. It just hasn't come together all that often.

Ohio State shut out Air Force in the first and fourth quarters, giving up two apiece in the middle quarters. Defensively, the Buckeyes outmatched any Air Force player all the way to the second SSDM line. It's not Air Force's fault, that's just the reality.

And Caleb Fyock is playing absolutely lights out just 3 games in as the starter. I have absolutely zero information, but Henry Blake's injury (if that is what happened) couldn't have come at a worse time for his career. Myers would be categorically insane to bench Fyock now after he has gone above a .600 save percentage the last two games.

I don't know that he is an All American. But Fyock is giving the Buckeyes production that would have won them a lot more games the past two years between the pipes had he graduated in 2021 or 2022.

Offensively, the Buckeyes played the way Myers loves. Under 40 shots, a shooting percentage of .333 exactly, and crushing the opponent on groundballs. The Buckeyes are still not shooting well enough (just a .527 shots on goal percentage), but they converted when necessary.

Dillon Magee had 3 goals and 1 assist, while Ben Mayer slammed 4 goals past Air Force's keeper to tie for the team lead in points today. For all my complaints about efficiency, Ohio State has managed to get production out of different players all season. Magee had been silent for 3 games, then put on this performance. That's impressive for a program that has struggled to get scoring outside of one or two guys the past few seasons.

Tommy Burke and the other FOGOs did their job, winning 60% of the faceoffs (12-20) on the day. Myers-led teams always are at their best with that level of faceoff dominance, and today was no exception.

The only poor bit of play today was from the Man Up unit, which officially converted zero of their four chances. That's not what you need from the offense, especially as defenses will get a lot tougher starting next week.

All in all, this was a dominant win over a not good opponent. The Buckeyes aren't going to keep Virginia, Cornell, or Notre Dame to 15% shooting. But tip of the cap, the Buckeyes are officially on a roll, and have improved each week.

A trip to Charlottesville looms next Saturday, as the Buckeyes will look to avoid getting embarrassed by the Cavaliers' latest super team. More on them later.

For now, great win, and a good start to 2024!

Go Bucks!