Penn State men’s hockey (6-8, 0-7 Big Ten) was silenced 4-0 by No. 17 Ohio State (10-4-1, 3-2-0 Big Ten) on Thursday night in Columbus.

The Nittany Lions failed to consistently generate offense. The Buckeyes took a 2-0 lead into the third period and took firm control with another two goals to hand Penn State a seventh conference loss.

How It Happened

After a slow start, Penn State nearly had a two-on-one, but Ohio State swiftly got a turnover. At 6:19 into the first period, the Buckeyes were assessed a minor penalty for too many men on the ice. They developed an unsuccessful shorthanded chance, and the Nittany Lions never took control during the opportunity.

The Buckeyes developed chance after chance, including one John Seifarth barely denied. They generally controlled throughout the remainder of the period and led 11-6 in shots at the break.

The Nittany Lions had the majority of a power play to start the second period, but they again did not capitalize. Then, at 3:14 into the period, Max Montes scored to make it 1-0 Ohio State.

Ohio State didn’t stop there, though. At 6:29 in the period, Patrick Guzzo made it 2-0 with a shot from directly in front of the net.

After some back-and-forth play, Tyler Paquette gave Ohio State its first power play after he was called for tripping. The Buckeyes did not score.

At 5:21 in the third period, Keaton Peters took a tripping penalty. Ohio State narrowly missed an opportunity at the start, and could not capitalize on the advantage.

Despite missing out on the power play, the Buckeyes grabbed another advantage. At 14:16, Gunnarwolfe Fontaine picked up and rebound and put it past Seifarth to make it 3-0 to capitalize on the power play.

Ohio State scored with 2:28 left in the game on an empty-netter to take a 4-0 lead.

Takeaways

• Like the last six times against Big Ten teams, Thursday wasn’t Penn State’s night. Failure to control the puck and take consistent, accurate shots doomed the Nittany Lions.
• Ohio State had a plan Seifarth, and it worked. He’s been great, but it’ll be interesting to see if Guy Gadowsky opts for Noah Grannan tomorrow to give him a night off.
• Make it seven Big Ten losses. Things need to change almost instantly if the Nittany Lions are to improve at all in the PairWise Rankings.

What’s Next

Penn State completes the series at 7 p.m. Friday night at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The game will be broadcast on BTN+.