The No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions welcome a familiar foe to Pegula Ice Arena this weekend. The No. 17 Ohio State Buckeyes come into Happy Valley, trying to get back into the win column after an inconsistent month of November.
This is the first time these two squads are meeting up since last year's Big Ten tournament, where the Nittany Lions upset the Buckeyes in the quarterfinals becoming the first Big Ten team to win a three-game series on the road. In the 2021-22 regular season, Penn State went 0-3-1 against the Buckeyes. Its shootout win last year counted as a tie.
Penn State is coming off of a sweep against the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks. Both games were very tight contests. Penn State beat the Nanooks 3-2 in Game 1 and completed the sweep with a 2-1 win.
The Buckeyes meanwhile are coming off of a stunning split against LIU. The Sharks defeated the Buckeyes 4-3 in Game 1, but Ohio State responded with a dominant 4-1 win in Game 2.
The Nittany Lions took their foot off the gas in the third period and the Nanooks almost stole each game.
"We were running on fumes. And we did not play well," coach Guy Gadowsky said. "Our mindset at the time was to just to grit it out, empty the tank and try to get success on the scoreboard."
Penn State is continuing to get production from its depth players.
Christian Sarlo has been red-hot. The junior forward has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his last eight games. He also scored the game-winning goal in Game 1 against Alaska.
"Sarlo was a little bit snake bit last year and he was still doing so many of the right things, but for whatever reason, the puck wasn't going in the net for him," Gadowsky said. "Now that he's with others, where the pucks are going in, it just snowballed."
Ryan Kirwan finally broke his eight-game goal drought scoring twice. The sophomore was a healthy scratch in Game 2 against Michigan State and played on a line with Sarlo and Xander Lamppa. One of Kirwan's goals came on the man-advantage.
"Guys that are detailed in their habits have offensive success," Gadowsky said. "For him to reach his potential as a hockey player, he's going to have to score because he has that type of release. He's always been a goal scorer."
Special teams have been the difference for the Nittany Lions as of late. Penn State scored two power-play goals in Game 2 against Alaska. Gadowsky tinkered with his five-man unit a little bit. He slotted Kirwan on the first unit for Ben Schoen. Penn State's power play now sits at fifth in the Big Ten at 17.6%. It will be interesting to see how the rising power play matches up against Ohio State's penalty killing unit, which is the best in the Big Ten at 92.6%.
"It's not just whether you score or not, it is what momentum does for you," Gadowsky said. "I thought this weekend, actually, [the power play] was one real bright spot in a couple games that didn't have a lot of them."
While things seem to be trending upwards for Gadowsky's Nittany Lions, the same can't be said for Steve Rholik's Buckeyes.
Consistency and scoring depth have been the main issues for Ohio State. It went 2-4 in the month of November which consisted being swept by Michigan State, a split with Notre Dame and the split with LIU.
"They're a fast paced [and] skilled team," Liam Souliere said. "They're very good on their special teams, and they're also a very good defensive team that doesn't break down all that often."
The Buckeyes have been known to play a very structured style of hockey, but they have gotten away from that. They will be without two of their leading scorers. Gustaf Westlund has not played since Oct. 14 against UConn. He is unlikely to play in the series. The fifth-year forward had 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) last year.
Furthermore, Ohio State will be without Kamil Sadlocha for the rest of the season. Sadlocha was accused of repeatedly yelling racial remarks to Michigan State forward Jagger Joshua. In a statement released by the university, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said, "Kamil is returning home and will not practice or compete at this time." The senior forward was second on the team with five goals.
Ohio State is a very top-heavy team this year. The departures of Georgii Merkulov and Quinn Preston hurt the offense. However, fifth-year Jake Wise is having a breakout year, leading the Buckeyes with 17 points (six goals, 11 assists). Stephen Halliday leads Buckeye freshmen with 13 points (four goals, nine assists) and defenseman Mason Lohrei is having a terrific sophomore campaign with 11 assists.
The Nittany Lions will also have to slow down Cam Thiesing, who had a hat trick against LIU.
Sophomore goaltender Jakub Dobeš has been decent. The 6-foot-4 netminder is currently 9-6-1 with a 2.31 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. Dobeš is the reigning Big Ten Goaltender of the Year.
Prediction: Penn State gets four points. (A win and a loss in overtime)
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