This weekend is nothing close to what the Ohio State men’s hockey team had in mind. It left for the Twin Cities in first place in the Big Ten, but lost two games in convincing fashion and now sit in 3rd place behind Penn State and Michigan State who both battled to overtime Saturday night.
The contest tonight was an ugly one and it got started early. After a bad turnover in its own zone, Ohio State gave up a quick goal just five minutes in to go down 1-0. It stayed that way through twenty minutes of play, but then the Gophers scored two more goals in the second period, heavily outshooting the Buckeyes to take a 3-0 lead into the second break.
With the way this one was going, a three-goal lead seemed insurmountable. OSU got one back though when Caron Meyer scored on the Power Play to cut the lead to 3-1. But that would be it. The Gophers added one more on a power play for good measure, and the final score read 4-1.
Next up, the Buckeyes head to Ann Arbor for two games vs. the Wolverines next weekend. pic.twitter.com/6oUY413eQX
— Ohio State Men's Hockey (@OhioStateMHKY) January 26, 2020
Minnesota had a decided advantage in shots early on, but Ohio State tried to push back with a little momentum. Still, the Gophers had ten more shots on goal (33-23) and made good on scoring chances.
With the loss, Ohio State falls to 15-8-3 overall, and 8-6-2 in the conference. It’s a hard road from here on out with the next series’ against Michigan on the road, Penn State at home, and Michigan State away. Yeah, that’s a cruel schedule, but it does allow for a great opportunity to do damage head-on with teams above it.
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