The Ohio State men’s hockey team dropped the puck on the Mark Osiecki era when the Gray team defeated the Scarlet team 3-0 in Saturday night’s Scarlet and Gray Game at the Schottenstein Center.

Two second-period goals by senior forward C.J. Severyn highlighted an evening marred by eight penalties, five coming in the first period.

Osiecki, coaching in his first game for the Buckeyes, addressed the teams between the two-period game, imploring them to play with more discipline while maintaining their aggression. He was pleased with the result.

“The best thing about today was our response in the second half of the game,” Osiecki said. “Our ability to go in as a staff and talk about certain things, and their response afterward was outstanding.”

Senior forward Peter Boyd echoed the coach’s sentiment.

“There are definitely things we need to work on, and that was evident today,” Boyd said. “I think the second period picked up a notch. Coach came in and said the effort wasn’t completely there and I think that guys reacted to that.”

Still getting familiar with the team, Osiecki hasn’t yet decided on the lineup or the starting goaltender, so the focus early in his tenure has been discipline.

“The only thing we’ve talked about so far is from a discipline standpoint,” Osiecki said. “That’s being smart, trying not to take penalties and when you do get a penalty to just go to the box. That’s an area that we will continue to talk about as a culture thing.”

Saturday’s scrimmage remained scoreless until Severyn scored at the 4:59 mark of the second period. He was assisted by forward Cory Schneider and defenseman Shane Sims.

He quickly followed that up with another goal 51 seconds later, collecting a rebound from Boyd and firing it over goaltender Dustin Carlson’s blocker pad.

Overall, Severyn was pleased with the effort from both teams.

“I feel that, as a team, every guy played their role,” Severyn said. “Personally, I think I moved my feet pretty well, and I thought my cardio was good.”

Severyn, whose nine goals were fourth-most on the team last year, is hoping the night was a sign of things to come this season, as he looks to develop into a reliable, go-to guy on the offensive end.

“I can put the puck in the net if I want to, as long as I play my role and be physical and hardworking,” he said. “Hopefully this year I’ll get some time on the powerplay, and get some more time to put the puck into the net.”

The 3-0 victory for the Gray team was capped by an unassisted goal by freshman Alex Lippincott at 11:23 of the second period. All three goals were scored on even strength.

Scarlet goaltender Carlson surrendered all three goals while making 18 saves. Gray goaltender Cal Heeter made 12 saves while splitting time with Jeff Michael, who stopped nine shots.

Although Osiecki is expecting this to be a rebuilding year for the program, Boyd believes the team is capable of playing at a high level and exceeding expectations.

“I think, as a team, it depends on how hard we want to push ourselves,” Boyd said. “I think coach Osiecki is going to give us the tools to do it. It’s just how hard the guys want to do it. You’ve got to take it day-by-day.”

The team begins the season in Hamden, Conn., for a two-game series against Quinnipiac on Friday and Saturday.

The scrimmage was split into two 25-minute periods instead of three 20-minute periods.

During power plays, officials tested a new rule that prohibited shorthanded teams from icing the puck.

The game was followed by a three-round shootout, with Michael stopping all three shots for the Gray team.

Boyd scored the only goal of the shootout during the third round against Heeter.