COLUMBUS, Ohio — It wasn’t a start that any team would want to have, but you know the old saying.
It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
Riding the momentum of two goals by Matthew Weis and strong goaltending from Christian Frey, Ohio State (10-17-2, 5-10-0-0 B1G) earned a 5-3 victory over Penn State in front of 4,153 fans inside of Value City Arena on Friday night.
The Nittany Lions (16-11-4, 8-6-1-0 B1G) got off to the perfect start with Tommy Olczyk banging home his seventh goal of the season just 31 seconds into the contest.
The Buckeyes responded before the end of the first period in the form of Weis’ fifth goal of the campaign with 5:34 left as he took a feed off the boards near the hash mark from Anthony Greco. Weis walked in from the bottom of the left circle untouched, going backhand to forehand before sliding it through the legs of an outstreched P.J. Musico.
Senior captain Tanner Fritz gave the Scarlet and Grey a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal 1:19 into the middle frame. Nick Schilkey slotted Greco a pass on the boards on the left side from the right point and Greco calmly dished it to a wide-open Fritz in front of the net for the score.
Weis buried his second of the night with 7:47 left in the second period off of a tic-tac-toe passing play. Schilkey walked into the Nittany Lions’ zone on the left side, wired a pass across the ice to Craig Dalrymple, who filed it to a streaking Weis as he went forehand to backhand, sliding the puck past a diving Musico on the right side of the net.
The freshman didn’t hesitate to tip his cap to those who set him up for the goal.
“[Schilkey] made a nice play to Dalrymple,” Weis said. “He made a great play, controlling the puck, getting it over to me and I was lucky enough to put it in.”
Momentum was taken away from the home team momentarily, however, as Dylan Richard lit the lamp for his seventh tally on the season just 56 seconds later, making it a 3-2 game.
The goal was a result of Scott Conway’s slap shot from the high slot. Frey was unable to hold on to the puck and Richard was there to put away the garbage as the puck trickled behind Frey.
Penn State came into the game averaging 40.7 shots per game, best in the nation. Head coach Guy Gadowsky gave credit to his adversaries in capitalizing on their opportunities.
“Defensively, you’ve got to give them some credit,” Gadowsky said. “They scored a couple very beautiful goals and they scored a couple dirty goals. They were able to cash in on chances that we weren’t.”
In the third, Ohio State scored a few goals in quick succession. Josh Healey fired a bomb from the left point that beat Musico inside the right post at the 8:02 mark. Tyler Lundey assisted on Healey’s second goal of the season.
While Frey enjoyed the luxury of goal support from his offense, he credited his defense with a stellar effort on their part.
“They were doing a lot in front of me,” Frey said. “They’re always blocking shots and clearing pucks in front of me. Those are two huge things they always do.”
Luke Stork hammered home his fifth goal 57 seconds later with a snapper from the high slot that beat the blocker of Musico to make it 5-2 in favor of the Buckeyes.
Musico stopped 30 shots on the evening.
Patrick Koudys’ first goal of the season with 5:15 left drew the Nittany Lions within two, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Buckeyes withstood a flurry of shots in the final minutes of the game to hold on for the win.
This was a tough loss for the Nittany Lions as they were five points behind No. 17 Minnesota at the beginning of the night for first place in the Big Ten.
“I think what we can do better; we have to be tougher to play against,” Gadowsky said. “I thought we did a pretty good job in the offensive zone, but I thought we were pretty easy to play against in our zone.”
As for the Buckeyes, it was another step in the right direction in gaining momentum for the Big Ten tournament in March.
“It’s a matter of trying to continue to get better,” OSU coach Steve Rohlik said. “This is where you start making some steps. This is where you’ve got to put a string together. It’s that time of year.”
