No. 6 Penn State men’s hockey (10-2-1, 2-2-0 Big Ten) lost to No. 5 Ohio State (9-4-1, 4-2-0 Big Ten) in a hard-fought 5-2 contest Saturday night. The loss gives the Nittany Lions a split on the weekend after their 4-3 victory on Friday night in Columbus.

Penn State’s offense was finally held in check. It failed to score at least three goals for the first time, but Aarne Talvitie and Alex Limoges each found the back of the net on Saturday.

Junior goalie Peyton Jones made 28 saves in the loss.

How It Happened

Ohio State took a 1-0 lead just under five minutes into the game when Mason Jobst scored his ninth goal of the 2018-19 season and second of the series against Penn State.

The Nittany Lions trailed for all but .4 seconds of the remainder of the period, but the goal they got was a beauty. Freshman Aarne Talvitie quickly rushed up the ice in the dying seconds of the first period and rifled a shot past Tommy Nappier to even the score at one heading into the first intermission.

Steve Rohlik’s program held a 15-12 advantage on the shot counter after 20 minutes of play, but Penn State would bounce back and outshoot the Buckeyes in each of the next two periods of the game.

Alex Limoges would get the Nittany Lions off to a good start in the second period by scoring on the power play under two minutes into the second stanza. The sophomore’s eighth goal of the season moved him into sole possession of No. 2 in the nation in terms of overall scoring behind his linemate, Evan Barratt.

However, Ohio State would answer with a power play goal of its own through junior forward Ronnie Hein. Hein’s fourth of the year tied the game 11:11 after Limoges gave Penn State its first lead of the contest.

The two teams would enter the second intermission tied at two. Penn State would make a strong push to start the third period, registering the first six shots on goal in the period. Its efforts were repeatedly repelled by Ohio State goalie Tommy Nappier, and the Buckeyes made Guy Gadowsky’s team pay for not finishing its early chances.

Dakota Joshua scored the game-winning goal with 2:17 remaining in the third period — his fourth of the year came at even strength and gave Penn State its second consecutive series split in Big Ten play.

The Buckeyes would add a pair of empty net goals for good measure to pad the scoreboard a bit, but Saturday’s game was a tightly-contested affair at Value City Arena.

Takeaways

• Aarne Talvitie, keep shooting the puck. The freshman continues to improve every week — he led the team in shots on goal tonight with six and scored his fourth goal of the season late in the first period. The Espoo, Finland native was brought in to produce offensively, and he has done just so far this year.
• Penn State needs to be more disciplined. The Nittany Lions committed eight penalties Saturday night against the Buckeyes — their penalty kill bailed them out tonight, killing off 5 out of the six Buckeye power plays, but taking that many penalties against quality opposition will come back to bite them in the future.

What’s Next

The Nittany Lions will travel to Wisconsin next Friday for a weekend series against the Badgers. Puck drop is slated for 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday night in Madison.