Ohio State played its first game without a penalty since Jan. 18, 2013.
DETROIT -- Ohio State advanced to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament after posting a 3-1 quarterfinal win against Penn State Thursday in Joe Louis Arena.
The five seed Buckeyes (14-18-3) will take on conference top seed and nationally-ranked No. 13 Minnesota (21-12-3) on Friday.
The Buckeyes led 2-0 after the first period on goals from Nick Schilkey and Justin DaSilva. Penn State cut the Ohio State lead half midway through the second period, but David Gust scored with one minute left in the stanza to regain Ohio State's two-goal lead. Buckeye goalie Christian Frey ended the game with 31 saves, including stopping all 13 shots he faced in the third period.
Frey made the first big play of the game, stopping Penn State's Eric Scheid on a breakaway about five minutes into the contest. At 8:01, sophomore Gust forced a turnover and passed up to his classmate Schilkey, who converted a breakaway at 8:01 for his 10th goal of the year (scoring on the Buckeyes' first shot on net).
At 14:13, senior Tanner Fritz left a drop pass for DaSilva and DaSilva blasted a shot into the goal, putting Ohio State ahead 2-0 at 14:13. Clark Cristofoli had the second assist on the goal, his third assist in the past four games. Penn State had the edge in shots 11-7 in the period.
At 9:38 of the second, Max Gardiner tallied on a wrist shot for Penn State, making it a 2-1 game. With time winding down in the period, junior Sam Jardine got the puck to Gust with a stretch pass and he was able to get behind the PSU defense for a breakaway, scoring on a backhand for a 3-1 Buckeye lead at 19:00.
Neither team scored in the third period, with Penn State outshooting Ohio State 13-6.
The Buckeyes were outshot 32-29 in the game. Frey played all 60 minutes and had 31 saves for the Buckeyes. Eamon McAdam made 26 stops in 58:20 for Penn State. Ohio State blocked 17 shots in the win, led by Fritz, Chad Niddery, Craig Dalrymple, Matt Johnson and Josh Healey with two each.
There were no penalties called in the game. It was the Buckeyes' first game with no penalties assessed to either team since Jan. 18, 2013 at Northern Michigan.
