Ohio State men’s hockey welcomed Michigan to the Schott on Friday for the first of two games. Michigan got a couple goals from senior Evan Allen, but it wasn’t enough to top the Buckeyes who rolled to a 4-2 win.
| scoring by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| No. 12 Ohio State | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
Although the Bucks chucked plenty of rubber at Michigan goalie Jack LaFontaine in the first period (20 shots to the Wolverines’ 10), they didn’t break through with their first goal until the final second of the frame. Dave Gust sent a power play tally to the back of the net with a tenth of a second remaining.
| buckeye goal scorers (assists) | pd | time |
|---|---|---|
| PP - Dave Gust (Dakota Joshua, Mason Jobst) | 1 | 19:59 |
| Kevin Miller (Matt Miller) | 2 | 2:41 |
| Kevin Miller (Dakota Joshua, Dave Gust) | 2 | 9:50 |
| PP - Nick Schilkey (Dakota Joshua, Mason Jobst) | 2 | 19:53 |
Ohio State took the lead in the second period thanks to a pair of goals by Kevin Miller. The first was an all Miller affair with Kevin finishing off a set up from Matt Miller. The pride of Stony Plain, Alberta struck again midway through the frame. By scoring his seventh and eighth goals of the year tonight, Kevin Miller doubles his previous season best of four tallies.
OSU added one more goal before the second intermission. Just as in the first period, the score was a man-advantage tally inside the final minute of play. (You know, when the fans note that Michigan… is still a less than ideal state.)
This time Nick Schilkey made the last minute deposit. The goal was No. 24 on the season for Schilkey and his fourteenth power play marker. With the PPG the Buckeye captain moves into a tie for the national lead in man-advantage goals with Northeastern’s Adam Gaudette.
Kevin Miller scored twice and David Gust and Nick Schilkey each scored a goal in the Buckeyes' 4-2 win over UM tonight. #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/vfGikXPPp8
— Ohio State M Hockey (@OhioState_MHKY) February 25, 2017
Michigan had its best chance at mounting a comeback in the mid-part of the third period. OSU’s Sasha Larocque was hit with a double minor. However the Buckeye penalty kill buckled down and preserved the team’s 4-2 lead.
Ohio State outshot Michigan 46-34 in the contest. Christian Frey made 32 saves in his ninth win of the season. LaFontaine stopped 42 shots for the Wolverines. OSU was 2-for-5 on the power play and thwarted three of Michigan’s four man-advantage chances. With the victory OSU improves to 17-8-6 overall and 8-6-1-1 in the Big Ten.
The Buckeyes and Wolverines conclude their regular season series tomorrow evening at 5pm ET. If you can’t make it out to the Schott, you can catch the game on BTN. It also streams live on mobile devices via BTN2Go.
