No. 13 Penn State men’s hockey (13-8-2, 5-7-1 Big Ten) dropped its series opener against No. 4 Ohio State (14-5-4, 7-3-3 Big Ten) 4-1 on Friday.

The Nittany Lions couldn’t cope with the Buckeyes’ frantic forecheck and seemed a half-step too slow at times during the defeat to the Buckeyes. They harassed Penn State all over the ice and forced the Nittany Lions into committing multiple bad turnovers in all areas of the ice.

Ludvig Larsson scored the lone goal for Penn State at the end of the first period, and Peyton Jones made 29 saves in defeat.

How It Happened

The Nittany Lions struggled to retain possession of the puck in the first few minutes of the game. Penn State’s inability to exit its defensive zone with clean possession of the puck led to a flurry of Buckeye chances.

Ohio State peppered Jones early and buzzed around the Nittany Lion zone in search of the game’s first goal. A Kevin Kerr cross checking penalty provided the Buckeyes with the opportunity to open the scoring. It wouldn’t take them long, as Gustaf Westlund scored just 10 seconds into the powerplay to give the Buckeyes the 1-0 lead.

The Ohio State goal seemed to wake Penn State up. The Nittany Lions began to carry more and more of the play as the period progressed. Penn State would be rewarded for its improved play with just over a minute left in the opening period.

An interference penalty by Buckeye co-captain Sasha Larocque put the Nittany Lions on the power play. Ludvig Larsson deflected a Cole Hults point blast past Ohio State goaltender Sean Romeo just two seconds into the man advantage to even the score at one with 1:06 to play in the period.

The second period got off to a hectic start. A string of three penalties in less than a minute resulted in Penn State having to kill off a rare 4-on-3 Buckeye power play. Tanner Laczynski scored approximately a minute into the Ohio State man advantage, and that goal would stand as the game-winner.

The Buckeyes began to really take over the game following the goal. They were a step quicker all over the ice and forced the Nittany Lions into committing turnover after turnover.

Eventually, Penn State’s sloppiness with the puck cost them. Gustaf Westlund stuffed his second of the game past Jones after a turnover in the neutral zone handed Ohio State easy entry into the Nittany Lion zone.

Penn State was unable to take advantage of a handful of power play opportunities in the third period. The Nittany Lions created scoring chances for themselves, but were unable to find the back of the net against Ohio State’s stout defense.

Ronnie Hein added insult to injury for Penn State when he buried Ohio State’s fourth goal of the game with just fewer than two minutes remaining.

Takeaways

• The Nittany Lions’ passing was just not good enough tonight. They turned the puck over countless times high in their own zone and in the neutral zone. This led to numerous Ohio State scoring opportunities, and it stifled Penn State’s offensive attack. The Nittany Lions will need to take much better care of the puck tomorrow if they hope to salvage a split from this series.
• Despite conceding four goals, Peyton Jones was by far the best Penn State player on the ice Friday night. While Jones stat line isn’t the most impressive you’ll ever see, he stopped 29 out of the 33 shots he faced, he was hung out to dry by his defense on multiple occasions. Without Jones’ strong effort in net the score could’ve been a whole lot more lopsided.

What’s Next

The Nittany Lions and Buckeyes will square off again at Pegula at 3 p.m. Saturday.