Ohio State rebounded from Friday’s less than stellar outing and topped Michigan State by a 5-3 margin in the teams' series finale. Nick Schilkey led the offense with a goal and two assists and the Bucks’ power play proved once again that it is frighteningly effective. Here’s how the game went down.
| scoring by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan State | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| No. 13 Ohio State | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
The night did not begin in an auspicious manner for the Buckeyes. They spent four of the tilt’s opening eight minutes on the penalty kill as Dakota Joshua made a Bertino-Ferguson style trip to the box. However, Ohio State’s special teams successfully thwarted the Spartans on both occasions and, when the Bucks got their first power play chance a few minutes later, the PP crew gave the team a 1-0 lead. Mason Jobst tickled the twine with his sixteenth goal of the season.
Mason Jobst scored his 16th goal of the year - his 46th point - in the first period. #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/9g0ihtyMxO
— Ohio State M Hockey (@OhioState_MHKY) March 5, 2017
Unfortunately the Bucks immediately set about making the game difficult for themselves. Less than a minute after scoring, Jobst was whistled for boarding. On the ensuing advantage Michigan State’s Sam Saliba tied the game at 1-1. Ohio State surged ahead late in the first period. Once again the score came courtesy of the Buckeye power play. Senior Dave Gust did the honors.
David Gust scored his 15th goal of the year in the first period. #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/U5Lk4JJNTG
— Ohio State M Hockey (@OhioState_MHKY) March 5, 2017
Again an OSU penalty followed close on the heels of the Buckeye goal. Janik Moser’s foul carried over into the second period. And, again, the Spartans leveled the score. Patrick Khodarenko netted the equalizer less than a minute into the stanza.
The penalty frenzy came to an end following Khodarenko’s tally but the scoring did not. Kevin Miller put Ohio State back on top with an even strength goal. It was his third lamp lighter in as many games.
K. Miller notched his 10th goal of the year in the second period. https://t.co/Ha7HD1zMk5 #GoBucks
— Ohio State M Hockey (@OhioState_MHKY) March 5, 2017
The lead didn’t last long as Michigan State rallied a third time. Saliba pulled MSU into a 3-3 tie with his second goal of the game. The Spartans outshot the Buckeyes 14-8 in the middle frame but could not edge ahead. Matt Tomkins made 12 of his 22 overall saves to keep the score knotted at three-all going into the third period.
Ohio State grabbed its fourth lead of the game with about 15 minutes to play. The Spartans made a final trip to the penalty box and the inexorable Buckeye power play churned out another goal. Bertino…er, Joshua potted the man-advantage tally which turned out to be the game winner.
Dakota Joshua had the third period gamewinner in the Buckeyes' win over MSU. https://t.co/jXo3UvMrVC #GoBucks
— Ohio State M Hockey (@OhioState_MHKY) March 5, 2017
Nick Schilkey added an empty netter in the final seconds to cement a 5-3 Ohio State win. The efficiency of the Buckeyes’ power play (operating at nearly 30% going into this series) is spectacular. The Bucks went 3-for-4 with the advantage tonight. They were 5-for-7 in the series.
| buckeye goal scorers (assists) | pd | time |
|---|---|---|
| PP - Mason Jobst (Josh Healey, Nick Schilkey) | 1 | 12:05 |
| PP - Dave Gust (Nick Schilkey, Josh Healey) | 1 | 17:37 |
| Kevin Miller (Dakota Joshua, Tommy Parran) | 2 | 2:03 |
| PP - Dakota Joshua (Mason Jobst, Josh Healey) | 3 | 5:04 |
| Nick Schilkey (unassisted) | 3 | 19:49 |
Individually Jobst led the way this week with two goals and three assists in the series. Schilkey (2g, 2a), Joshua (1g, 3a), and Josh Healey (4a) followed with four points each. Gust (2g, 1a) and Kevin Miller (2g) also posted multi-point series.
While tonight’s outing wasn’t perfect, it was a nice bounce back performance after Friday’s first period let-down. Ohio State closes out the 2016-17 regular season next week with one last road series at Wisconsin.
- Other Big Ten results: Penn State crushed Wisconsin, 6-0, for a series split. Minnesota clinched a first round in the B1G tournament with a 4-1 win over Michigan.
