On Friday night No. 11 Ohio State utterly shut down No. 2 Penn State’s top-ranked offense. Tonight it looked as though the visitors would flip the script and hand the Buckeyes a goose egg. Instead the game went down to the wire thanks to some late game heroics by Nick Schilkey.
| scoring by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 2 Penn State | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| No. 11 Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
This tilt was a slugfest from the opening faceoff. The hockey was chippy and bad-tempered. Shots and bodies flew left and right. The iron rang more than once. Special teams went toe-to-toe. Neither Christian Frey nor Peyton Jones blinked in the first period.
| pd | time | buckeye goal scorers (assists) |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 9:42 | PP - Nick Schilkey (Mason Jobst) |
| 3 | 10:25 | PP - Nick Schilkey (Miguel Fidler, Mason Jobst) |
Penn State edged ahead in the second period. Brandon Biro deposited a rebound at the 4:16 mark, giving the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead. The score held up through the frame despite juicy power play opportunities for both sides. The Buckeyes failed to capitalize on an extended 5-on-3. PSU couldn’t cash in on a five minute advantage.
The visitors extended their lead in the opening stages of the third period. Eric Autio finished off an odd man rush a shade over three minutes in, making the score 2-0 in favor of Penn State. A few minutes later Ricky DeRosa added a shorthanded marker.
This clearly did not please Nick Schilkey. The Buckeye captain issued an immediate response. He struck twice in less than a minute, drawing the Bucks within a goal of PSU. His first tally came on a two man advantage. On the remaining power play he took a feed from Mason Jobst and hammered home a second goal.
Nick Schilkey strikes twice in under 45 seconds! @OhioState_MHKY making a comeback in Columbus! https://t.co/E6U4eC1HTM
— BTN Student U (@BTNStudentU) January 8, 2017
Ohio State made a last ditch attempt for a game tying tally. The Bucks pulled Frey for an extra attacker but they were hampered in their efforts by a whistle against Dave Gust. The penalty evened the skaters up. PSU’s Chase Berger potted an empty netter to lock up a Nittany Lion victory.
Given that the Buckeyes are missing a major piece of the puzzle in Tanner Laczynski, I can live with the split. The Buckeyes now sit at 10-4-4 overall. They are 2-2-0 in the Big Ten with series splits against the two other top conference contenders.
Next up for Ohio State is a brief non-conference interlude. The NCAA’s newest D-I team, Arizona State, comes to town for a pair of games. Matches are set for Friday at 7pm ET and Saturday at 2pm ET. Saturday’s contest is scheduled to air live on ESPNU.
