The men’s hockey Bucks fell short in Michigan tonight in their third opportunity to clinch the Big Ten title. The Wolverines scored the last three goals of the game en route to a 4-2 win. Ohio State falls to 19-8-4 on the season and 12-6-3-2 in the Big Ten.
| Scoring by Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 5/6 Ohio State | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Michigan | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
If willpower alone could have boosted the Buckeyes to victory, Mason Jobst’s team would be celebrating a W. The OSU captain was consistently the hardest working player on the ice. It was no surprise when he opened the scoring.
Five minutes into the second period, Jobst executed a little give and go with Gordi Myer. Miguel Fidler provided some turmoil in front of Michigan goalie Strauss Mann. Jobst swept the puck home for the seventeenth time this season.
| Buckeye Goal Scorers (Assists) | Pd | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Mason Jobst (Gordi Myer, Miguel Fidler) | 2 | 4:56 |
| Tanner Laczynski (Freddy Gerard) | 3 | 5:44 |
OSU’s 1-0 lead held until the final seconds of the frame. A late 5-on-3 gave the Wolverines an opportunity that even their anemic power play couldn’t miss. Quinn Hughes tied the game with two seconds left on the clock.
Ohio State killed off the remaining Michigan power play to start the third period. Then the Bucks set about restoring their lead. Midway through the stanza, they succeeded.
Ronnie Hein and Freddy Gerard created a Wolverine turnover. Gerard took the puck to the net. Tanner Laczynski followed him down the slot and potted a rebound for a 2-1 Buckeye edge.
This was the ninth goal of the season for Laczynski who made his return to the Ohio State lineup after missing six games due to injury. He played limited minutes tonight, mostly on the power play, but made a big impact in that small time.
Laczynski’s return, even at partial power and in small doses, was badly needed. The banged-up Buckeyes were down another roster regular. Dakota Joshua was absent from the lineup.
The big man was missed both physically as the Scarlet and Gray lacked a consistent net front presence, particularly on the power play. Joshua was also missed emotionally. Throughout his career, the senior has carried the flag in the hockey Bucks’ rivalry with Michigan.
Still, even with their shortened bench, the Buckeyes should have been able to get the job done tonight. Avoidable mental errors led to nearly every Michigan goal. Along with some badly-timed penalties, this included two egregious instances of puck-watching which allowed Nolan Moyle to score both the game-tying and game-winning goals.
For his part, I thought Sean Romeo played well. He had zero chance of stopping the two-man advantage goal. On both the tying and winning goals he successfully tracked the puck behind the net. He simply lacked an additional set of eyes in the back of his head to see Moyle gliding through the Buckeye defenders. In fact, he made a couple of big one-on-one saves following defensive breakdowns which kept this loss from being even worse.
Ohio State takes another stab at Michigan and the B1G crown tomorrow evening at 6pm ET. The tilt airs live on BTN.
- The Buckeyes outshot the Wolverines 31-25 in the game.
- Mason Jobst, Quinn Preston, and Freddy Gerard led OSU with four shots each.
- Michigan was 1-for-5 on the power play while Ohio State went 0-for-4.
- Around the Big Ten: Penn State defeated Wisconsin, 8-2. Notre Dame topped Minnesota, 3-2.
