EAST LANSING, Mich. – With 28 saves from junior goalie Christian Frey, a 5-for-5 performance on the penalty kill and a goal from freshman Mason Jobst, the Ohio State men’s hockey team skated to a 1-1 overtime tie at Michigan State Saturday to close the regular season. The Spartans won the shootout, 1-0 in three rounds, for the extra point in the Big Ten standings. The tie extends the Buckeyes’ unbeaten streak to seven, with a 5-0-2 record in the stretch.
Next up, the No. 4 seed Buckeyes (13-17-4, 8-8-4-1 B1G) and No. 5 seed Spartans (10-22-4, 6-12-2-1 B1G) will meet in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals at 8:30 p.m. ET Thursday in the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. The winner will meet No. 1 seed Minnesota at 8:30 p.m. ET Friday in the semifinals.
The only goals of the game were scored in the first period. The Spartans opened the scoring at 3:41, with Thomas Ebbing tallying from right in front. Buckeye freshman Mason Jobst tied the game at 12:51. He stole the puck from a Spartan in the Buckeye end and skated through the neutral zone, shooting the puck off the back wall. The puck came out in front and he won the race, with the MSU goalie coming out to try and play the puck and leaving the net empty.
Ohio State outshot the Spartans, 13-8, in the first period with Michigan State ahead 13-4 in the second period.
With 39 seconds left in the second period, each team had two players sent to the penalty box after pushing around the Buckeye crease. A major to a Buckeye and four minutes in penalties to a Spartan left the teams skating 4-on-4 for four minutes before a one minute Spartan power play in the third.
Ohio State had a power play chance 7:02 into the third period but was unable to convert, with a shot going off the crossbar. At 10:05, a Buckeye was called for a five minute major for interference, putting the Spartans on the power play. Ohio State held the Spartans to just two shots on goal during the five minutes and blocked four Spartan attempts.
Shots were 11-8 in favor of the Buckeyes in the third period and Ohio State put the only two shots on goal in overtime.
For the game, Ohio State outshot Michigan State, 30-29. Frey made 28 saves in all 65 minutes. Michigan State’s Jake Hildebrand played 63:23 and had 28 saves on 29 shots, while Nate Phillips played the last 1:37 of the first period and had one save.
Ohio State blocked 20 Michigan State shot attempts in the game, led by junior Drew Brevig with seven. He is third in the NCAA with 2.88 blocked shots per game.
Ohio State was scoreless on two power play chances for the second game in a row.
The Buckeyes played in their third consecutive overtime game, going 2-0-1 in the stretch. It was the first time the team had three straight overtime games since Feb. 5-12, 2000, when the team was 0-2-1 in the three games.
The game was the Buckeyes’ 26th this season decided by two or fewer goals.
With OSU game report
You must be logged in to post a comment.