Men's Hockey Salvages Tie with Falcons

No. 4 Ohio State avoided a sweep at the hands of No. 15 Bowling Green. The Buckeyes, playing without Tanner Laczynski and Ronnie Hein, started strong. They faded late but rallied and salvaged a tie with the Falcons.

The Buckeyes controlled much of the action in the opening frame. In the first 15 minutes, they held the Falcons to three shot attempts. None of that rubber even reached the net. Quinn Preston, Carson Meyer, and Brendon Kearney each blocked a shot. BGSU didn’t put its first shot on goal until the 15:31 mark.

Meyer staked the Bucks to a 1-0 lead in the first period. The tally was a team-leading fourth on the season for the Columbus Blue Jackets prospect. He was assisted on the play by Freddy Gerard and Sasha Larocque. But while Ohio State dominated in possession and territory, the team wasn’t able to convert its command into a more sizeable lead.

Larocque Gerard Meyer GOAL!

Carson Meyer opened the scoring tonight with his team-best fourth goal of the year. #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/Qpmis55mSx

— Ohio State Men's Hockey (@OhioStateMHKY) October 28, 2018

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Bowling Green began to push back in the second period. The Falcons kept the Scarlet and Gray busy with 21 shot attempts. The Buckeye skaters blocked about half of them. Tommy Nappier handled the rest.

Ohio State carried its 1-0 lead into the third period, but not far into it. With a little over a minute gone, a solo effort by Lukas Craggs tied the game. Then, at the 15:10 mark, Bowling Green’s lethal power play put the Falcons on top, 2-1.

The Buckeyes rallied thanks to a nice feed from their captain. Mason Jobst set up Gerard for a game-tying tally with 2:58 to play. The deadlock continued through the remainder of regulation.

Mason Jobst with the pass, Freddy Gerard with the finish for the game-tying goal with 2:58 left at BG tonight. Carson Meyer with the second assist on the goal.#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/2SQSvegj3A

— Ohio State Men's Hockey (@OhioStateMHKY) October 28, 2018

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Neither side prevailed in overtime although Jobst had an eventful try with seconds to play in the extra session. He shook loose on a breakaway but Ryan Bednard held firm against both the initial shot and a follow-up poke from Meyer.

Per new non-conference regulations, the game ended in a tie. I think that’s a fortunate outcome for the Buckeyes. They started strong but faded out as the game went on. Bowling Green took over in the last couple of periods. The longer this thing went, the more likely that the Falcons would have turned it into a win.

As bounce backs go, I think this one was middle of the road. The Bucks had a much better start and showed grit and resiliency in rallying for the tie. That first period blitz might have generated more goals had the team not been missing almost a third of its goal scoring. But at the end of the day, they still let a lead slip away in the final 20 minutes of the game. That puts a damper on the enthusiasm generated by the strong start.

The difficulty level increases for OSU again next week. The Bucks open their Big Ten slate (and make their 2018-19 national television debut) on the road at No. 1 Notre Dame. The Irish were swept by third-ranked Minnesota-Duluth this week in a pair of one-goal games. However, they remain a dangerous team. Half of a great effort isn’t going to cut it in South Bend. Games are set for Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm ET.

• Bowling Green topped Ohio State, 30-25, in shots on goal, including a 15-7 margin in the third period.
• Mason Jobst led the Buckeyes with four shots on net.
• Carson Meyer and Freddy Gerard (1-1--2 each) recorded multi-point outings.
• Dakota Joshua was a notable 15-for-23 in the faceoff circle.
• Eleven different Buckeyes registered blocks in the game led by Gordi Myer, Quinn Preston, and Matt Miller (two each).
• OSU was 1-for-4 on the power play and 5-for-6 on the penalty kill.