The No. 6 men’s hockey Buckeyes embarked upon their final regular season series of 2017-18 tonight. Wisconsin took it to Ohio State early but the Bucks rebounded with a big third period. Ultimately they claimed a 6-2 victory.
| Scoring by Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| No. 6 Ohio State | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
Remember how earlier today I said that giving up 11 goals to Minnesota wouldn’t sit well with the Badger staff? Well, Wisconsin’s response to that outing was evident in the first period tonight. The newly stifling Badger defense made it difficult for the Buckeyes to get any rubber on net. Nine minutes passed before Mason Jobst finally put an official shot on Wisconsin goalie Kyle Hayton.
| Buckeye Goal Scorers (Assists) | Pd | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Dakota Joshua (Luke Stork, Freddy Gerard) | 2 | 4:52 |
| PP - Tanner Laczynski (Mason Jobst, Wyatt Ege) | 3 | 1:41 |
| Dakota Joshua (Matt Joyaux, Matt Weis) | 3 | 2:22 |
| Christian Lampasso (Gordi Myer, Matt Miller) | 3 | 10:26 |
| Tanner Laczynski (Matt Weis, Freddy Gerard) | 3 | 15:51 |
| Brendon Kearney (Kevin Miller) | 3 | 17:07 |
The Badgers had much better luck getting at Sean Romeo. They put 15 shots on the Buckeye netminder over the course of the period. Romeo held out until the 13:45 mark of the frame before surrendering a rebound goal amidst significant traffic.
Dakota Joshua answered for the Buckeyes. The big forward returned to the OSU line up tonight after sitting out the last four games in what Steve Rohlik called “a coaching decision.” Joshua made his presence felt five minutes into the second period, jamming home a Wisconsin turnover to tie the score at 1-1.
Joshua scored to tie the game at 1 in the second period, assisted by Stork and Gerard. #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/qDns0XeaBM
— Ohio State M Hockey (@OhioState_MHKY) February 24, 2018
Wisconsin regained the lead later in the period. Matthew Freytag finished off a late developing 2-on-1. The Badgers held a 2-1 edge going into the final frame.
Ohio State roared out of the break, helped along by an extended 5-on-3 advantage. Tanner Laczynski snapped out of his scoring slump by potting a power play goal with five seconds left in the Buckeye advantage. Less than a minute later Joshua made another deposit in OSU’s account.
The Scarlet and Gray surge continued. Midway through the third period Christian Lampasso tipped home a blast from Gordi Myer and the rout was officially on. Laczynski netted his second goal of the game off a late feed from Matt Weis. Brendon Kearney followed that with a sixth Buckeye goal.
With the win Ohio State improves to 20-8-5 overall on the season and 13-8-2-1 in the Big Ten. This is the second consecutive 20-win season for the Buckeyes. It is the first time the team has accomplished the feat since the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons.
OSU and Wisconsin wrap their regular season slate tomorrow night at 7pm ET. Fans not attending the game can listen live on local radio station 1460 AM. The tilt can also be streamed live online with a BTN Plus subscription.
- Wisconsin outshot Ohio State 38-34 in the contest. Matt Joyaux led the way for the Bucks with five shots.
- Sean Romeo made 36 saves en route to his seventeenth win of the season.
- The Buckeye power play was 1-for-5 in the game. The vaunted OSU penalty kill was a flawless 3-for-3.
- Other Big Ten results: Penn State handled Minnesota, 5-1. Notre Dame defeated Michigan State, 6-3.
- Updated B1G standings: Notre Dame 53 points, Ohio State 42, Michigan 38, Minnesota 33, Penn State 31, Wisconsin 28, Michigan State 18.
