This marks the first time all year that Penn State hasn’t won when leading after two periods.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With 56 saves from senior goalie Christian Frey and two goals from sophomore Mason Jobst, the No. 11-ranked Ohio State men's hockey team tied No. 1/2-ranked Penn State, 3-3, Friday in Pegula Ice Arena. The Buckeyes, who rallied to tie the game three times, won the shootout, 2-1 in seven rounds, to clinch the extra point in the Big Ten standings.
The Buckeyes, who are now 11-4-5 (2-2-1-1 B1G) on the year, and Nittany Lions, who move to 16-2-2 (5-1-1-0 B1G), will close the weekend series at 7 p.m. Saturday in University Park. It is the final regular season matchup between the teams, who split two games in Columbus two weeks ago.
Penn State outshot the Buckeyes 24-3 in the first period and carried a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, scoring on a delayed penalty. The Buckeyes' Josh Healey tied the game at 12:21 of the second, but Penn State went ahead with 1:34 left in the stanza. In the third, Mason Jobst tied the game twice. His first goal came at 6:54, tying the score at two. Penn State regained the lead for a third time at 12:41 but just 1:18 later Jobst converted on the power play for a 3-3 game. Neither team could score in overtime, with Buckeye goalie Christian Frey making five of his 56 saves in the extra stanza.
"He was the best player in the building tonight. We understand Penn State is going to get a lot of shots," said head Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik. "That doesn't concern me; what concerns me is quality shots, and they had a lot of quality shots. Christian stepped up and gave us a chance to be in the ballgame at times and made some really big saves for us."
WATCH: Highlights from last night's 3-3 OT tie and shootout win at Penn State. https://t.co/8VV7tNpje9 #GoBucks
— Ohio State M Hockey (@OhioState_MHKY) January 21, 2017
The teams went to a shootout for the extra league point. The Nittany Lions shot first and notched the first goal in the fifth round, but Dakota Joshua answered for the Buckeyes. After another unsuccessful round for both teams, Frey made a save to open round seven and Buckeye freshman Sam McCormick converted his chance for the shootout victory.
Dakota Joshua and David Gust both picked up two assists in the win, while Drew Brevig blocked eight shots. The Buckeye penalty kill was 3-for-3, including a stop in overtime.
