The No. 10 Ohio State men’s ice hockey team beat rival No. 4 Michigan Wolverines 4-2 following a late-game surge by the Buckeyes offense Saturday at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland.
The Ohio State penalty kill unit was the Buckeyes’ brightest spot in the game, as they held the Wolverines to zero goals on the power play in their seven attempts. Head coach Steve Rohlik said the team’s ability to strive when shorthanded was a strong suit in the win.
“Usually the team that wins the special teams is going to win the game. Both teams had their chances on the power play,” Rohlik said. “Against a team like that, one of the best teams in the country and most skilled teams in the country, you got to be at your best.”
The game was scoreless until the Buckeyes got on the board late in the second period. Sophomore defenseman Cole McWard gave Ohio State a 1-0 lead after knocking in a goal with 5:39 left in the period.
With 4:59 left to play in the second period, an issue arose with the ice, causing the two teams to head to intermission early.
After the intermission, Ohio State came out with new energy and continued to attack the Wolverines.
With 2:49 left in the second period following the intermission, Ohio State capitalized on a Michigan penalty and increased its lead to 2-0, thanks to fifth-year forward Jake Wise.
Wise said the goal surprised him following the game and said he missed an opportunity to show off a celebration.
“I didn’t even know mine went in for a second,” Wise said. “I thought I had a celebration planned out but then all of a sudden it was gone. It was so cool.”
Just over a minute after the goal by Wise, the Wolverines quickly responded when freshman forward Gavin Brindley knocked one in for Michigan.
As the Buckeyes were tasked with the penalty kill, freshman defenseman Tyler Duke squeezed the puck into the net and extended the Ohio State lead to 3-1.
Duke said the feeling he got following his goal to give the Buckeyes a 3-1 lead was unique to him.
“It was pretty special,” Duke said. “I didn’t really know what happened after that went in, I just kind of skated down the ice. It was a super cool feeling and something I’ll remember for a long time.”
Michigan never went away as senior forward Eric Ciccolini snuck the puck past Buckeyes sophomore goalie Jakub Dobeš to make it a 3-2 game with 11:14 left in the third period.
Rohlik said Dobeš’ work ethic is a big part of what makes him so valuable to the team.
“Jakub is unbelievable,” Rohlik said. “He is such a competitor. He wants to be our best player in practice every day and the sky is the limit for him.”
Shortly after, with 10:18 left in the game, freshman forward Stephen Halliday pushed Ohio State’s lead back up to 4-2.
In a fitting way to close out the game, late in the third, Ohio State killed Michigan’s seventh power play.
“You got to be ready to compete,” Duke said. “There’s going to be loose pucks and you got to be ready to get it down and get it 200 feet. We all bought in tonight.”
The Buckeyes head to Minnesota for a two-game series with the Golden Gophers starting Friday. Puck drop is scheduled for 9 p.m. on ESPNU.
