Penn State hockey dropped the first game of a three-game series against Ohio State in ugly fashion, 5-1 Friday night in Columbus.
Short memory. Back for game two in less than 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/rUyZ5RFjFG
— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) March 4, 2023
The first period started off slowly for Penn State (20-14-10), which tried to create a powerful forecheck within the first few shots of the game.
Defensively, Penn State couldn’t recover from a turnover in its and could only watch as Ohio State’s (18-13-3) Davis Burnside slipped one past Liam Souliere with a one-timer, putting Ohio State ahead 4:28 in. Throughout the remainder of the first period, Penn State seemed to be slow at times, with flurries of scoring opportunities scattered throughout.
Penn State left the first period down but not out, with Ohio State leading 1-0.
Unfortunately for Penn State, the second period started the way the first period ended. Ohio State thrived in the open ice, bursting through the slow-moving Penn State defense and taking advantage of every opportunity. Ohio State’s Tyler Duke, Cam Thiesing and Cole McWard added to the scoring carousel and put the game out of reach.
Penn State walked off the ice after the second period down 4-0.
Coach Guy Gadowsky’s team finally got the motor going in the third period when senior Ture Linden made an excellent heads-up shot from the red line to finally give Penn State a goal at the third period’s 11-minute mark. A minute later, Ohio State’s Stephen Halliday would cashed in on an all-too-easy turnover from Penn State and scored the game’s final goal.
Souliere finished the night stopping 34 of 39 shots. He now has a 17-13-1 overall record.
Penn State will be back in action Saturday night against the same team in the same arena. Face off is scheduled for 5.
