The Ohio State Men’s Ice Hockey team celebrates a goal during the first period during the Ohio State-Michigan State game on Nov. 29. Ohio State won 4-2. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
Following a series split with Michigan State that saw the Buckeyes find some offensive success, Ohio State is looking to keep up its scoring production.
After scoring just one goal in two games against Minnesota, the Buckeye offense found its rhythm against Michigan State, scoring six goals in the series. With no exhibition games, Ohio State has had to adapt its offensive scheme over their first four contests, which was emphasized since the preseason.
“What happens here in a couple weeks and who we are, we don’t have any exhibition games, so we’re going to kind of learn on the fly,” Ohio State head coach Steve Rohlik said at preseason Big Ten media availability Nov. 10.
Shortly after killing a five-minute Michigan State power play Saturday, goaltender Tommy Nappier skated off the ice and the Buckeyes brought on an extra attacker. Travis Treloar, a freshman forward from Norway, sat just inside the left circle and ripped a one-timer off a pass from fellow freshman and defenseman Evan McIntyre to score his first career goal at Ohio State and tie the game with 26 seconds remaining in regulation.
Treloar led the team in points for the series with three, which included two assists in the Buckeyes’ 4-2 Sunday win over the Spartans. Freshman forward Joe Dunlap also recorded his first goal at Ohio State over the weekend, scoring on a two-on-one rush in game two.
Senior defenseman Grant Gabriele is tied for the team lead in goals after two series, scoring one in each game against Michigan State last weekend. Gabriele had four goals all of last year as a regular starter.
“Having the defensemen come in and be those second forwards just creates more options,” Gabriele said Sunday. “It makes it harder to defend for the other teams. It’s just another option to where you can get pucks on net and make more plays because it’s really a five-man unit out there, not just the forwards.”
Defensemen and newcomers to the program certainly will play a significant and early role in the offense. Of Ohio State’s seven goals this year, a freshman or defenseman scored four of them and assisted on another.
“We’re built a little differently, we’re going to have to manufacture some goals here especially early,” Rohlik said Saturday. “It’s nice to have our [defensemen] be able to jump up in the play at times and provide some extra offense.”
This newfound production will come in handy against a talented, but depleted, No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers team.
Four Badger forwards — Ty Pelton-Byce, Tarek Baker, Roman Ahcan and Dominick Mersch — missed last weekend’s Arizona State series due to COVID-19 protocols and will also miss the series in Columbus against the Buckeyes, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
Pelton-Byce, Baker, Ahcan and Mersch together accounted for 24 percent of the goals scored for Wisconsin last season.
Montreal Canadiens 2019 first-round draft pick and Badgers sophomore forward Cole Caufield is off to a hot start with eight points in eight games. Senior forward Linus Weissbach leads the team in goals and points with five and 10, respectively. Goaltender Robbie Beydoun has started each game for Wisconsin, averaging 3.04 goals allowed and a .914 save percentage.
Wisconsin is 4-4 with 13 Big Ten points. Arizona State scored 11 goals in two games last weekend and swept the first-place Badgers. Games against the Sun Devils do not count toward this year’s Big Ten standings.
Ohio State enters the series 1-3-0 with four Big Ten points, sitting at fifth place in the conference. This is the second half of a four-game home stand before the Buckeyes travel to South Bend, Indiana, Dec. 12 for a two-game series at Notre Dame.
Ohio State fell to No. 13 in this week’s USCHO top 20 and the Badgers are ranked No. 14.
Puck drop is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday on BTN+ and 5:30 p.m. Friday on ESPNU. The games can also be found on Ohio State Radio ESPN 1460.
