The No. 14 Ohio State men’s ice hockey team defeated Wisconsin 3-1 on Friday in Columbus. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor
The No. 14 Ohio State men’s hockey team continues its non-conference schedule when it travels to Hartford, Connecticut, this weekend for a top-25 battle of unbeatens against No. 17 UConn.
The Buckeyes (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten) come off a successful sweep of Wisconsin to start Big Ten play, but UConn (4-0-0, 2-0-0 Hockey East) presents a greater challenge than Ohio State has experienced this season.
Coming off a 4-3 overtime win Saturday over Union for its best start since the 1975-76 season, UConn is a formidable opponent for the Buckeyes. Ohio State sophomore defenseman Cole McWard said the Buckeyes are looking forward to the challenge UConn presents.
“It’s a really good team. We’re excited for it,” McWard said. “We’re excited to go out there and play a team that we don’t get to play too often, get to see some new faces and just see some good competition. So, I think everyone’s pretty excited for it and just can’t wait to get going.”
Last season, UConn went 20-16, including 14 conference wins, before falling in the Hockey East Championship to Massachusetts 2-1 in overtime to end the season.
The Huskies were strong offensively, finishing second in the Hockey East Conference in goals scored with 73, scoring an average of 3.04 goals per game, which ranked No. 24 in the NCAA.
Defensively, the Huskies also present a challenge, finishing sixth in the Hockey East, allowing 61 goals in 24 games for an average of 2.54 allowed per game. That was in the top 20 in the NCAA for scoring defense.
UConn had an up and down season on special teams. The Huskies were the third-worst in the Hockey East and fourth-worst in the NCAA in power play percentage at just 14.3 percent. However, they had a strong penalty kill percentage, ranking third in the Hockey East and seventh in the NCAA at 86.3 percent.
The Huskies’ goaltending was average last season with a save percentage of .913, good for sixth-best in their conference.
Last season, Ohio State swept UConn, outscoring the Huskies 7-3 over two games.
However, so far this season, the Huskies have shown improvement on offense. Sophomore forward Chase Bradley and junior forward Nick Capone are tied with a team-best three goals this season.
Defensively, the Huskies have been strong also, allowing just 1.5 goals per game.
Ohio State head coach Steve Rohlik said he knows beating a team like UConn requires playing the Buckeyes’ best game. He said he felt Ohio State did not play their best last Saturday against Wisconsin, but said they are working towards it.
“You saw it on Saturday, just, you know, a shorthanded goal that could have been prevented, a turnover in our end that led to a breakaway,” Rohlik said. “Some of those things that you want to make teams earn. And I think that’s some of the stuff we looked at.”
Despite Friday only being the Buckeyes’ fifth game of the season, players like McWard are aware that games against teams, like the Huskies, are important when it comes to their NCAA Tournament resume.
“Last year you saw us dropping some of those games and it kind of put us out of contention and put us right outside the tournament,” McWard said. “This year, our focus with these games is we got to win. We got to take care of business and give ourselves the best chance at the end of the year to get into the tournament.”
Ohio State takes on UConn for game one of the series Friday at the XL Center. Puck drop is slated for 7:05 p.m. and the game will be livestreamed on ESPN+.
