Davis Burnside; Men’s ice hockey vs Michigan; Faceoff on The Lake 2023. Credit: Lantern File Photo
The Ohio State men’s ice hockey team’s losing streak came to an end Friday night as the Buckeyes defeated a top-conference opponent.
Ohio State (9-15-4, 1-15-2 Big Ten) beat the No. 4 Wisconsin Badgers (22-6-2, 13-4-1 Big Ten) 3-2 in overtime after managing to come from behind twice, capped off by a Davis Burnside goal. The win from the Buckeyes put an end to a seven-game skid that featured a series sweep to rival Michigan.
Ohio State head coach Steve Rohlik said he liked what he saw from his team and was impressed by how they battled back twice in the game.
“I am happy for our guys. They played one of the best teams in the country tonight,” Rohlik said. “We were not perfect but we battled and hung in there through some adversity and I give our guys credit.”
Ohio State started the game off by matching the intensity of the highly-ranked Badgers, and after killing off two Wisconsin power-plays the Buckeyes went into the locker room tied after a scoreless opening period.
The defensive game continued into the second period as neither team was able to net the game’s opening goal. Senior forward Joe Dunlap had two scoring chances in the middle frame but was stopped by senior goaltender Kyle McClellan on both attempts.
Wisconsin has been known for its stellar defense this season, holding opponents to less than two goals per game, however, it was the Buckeyes’ defense that impressed through two periods. Ohio State blocked 14 of Wisconsin’s shot attempts while the Badgers only had five blocked shots.
Just three weeks ago the Buckeyes had the worst penalty kill in all of collegiate hockey, after some questioning of the special teams unit, Rohlik’s team answered. Ohio State has now gone three games without conceding a power-play goal stopping the last eight opposition attempts.
Ohio State could not fend off the Badgers for much longer as they scored at 5:40 into the third period off a rebound goal by sophomore forward Jack Horbach. His goal was assisted by freshman forward and Columbus Blue Jackets third-round pick in the 2023 NHL draft, William Whitelaw.
Only a minute after the Badger’s opening goal, sophomore forward Simon Tassey got called for a five-minute major game-misconduct kneeing penalty, giving the Buckeyes a golden opportunity to net the equalizer.
However, with only two shots on the man-advantage the Buckeyes came out empty-handed and failed to upset the Badgers.
Fortunately for Ohio State, it was able to equalize off a shot from redshirt senior forward Michael Gildon late in the third period.
Gildon’s goal looked to force overtime, however, after a turnover from fifth-year defenseman Scooter Brickey the Badgers reclaimed their lead with only three minutes remaining in the game.
As all hope looked lost for the Buckeyes, Rohlik pulled junior goaltender Logan Terness with 1:47 remaining in the game. His decision was immediately rewarded as sophomore forward Stephen Halliday tied the game back up at 2-2 with only 1:39 left to play in regulation, ultimately sending the game into overtime.
In the overtime period, the two teams continued their back-and-forth battle with a period that seemed like it was anyone’s for the taking — that is exactly what sophomore forward Burnside did as he got the puck past McClellan to give the Buckeyes the overtime victory.
Burnside recalled the final play of the game and how it was a team effort to score the winner.
“We were reading off each other, [Montes] flew the zone and [Brickey] made a really good play,” Burnside said. “Those two did all the work and set it up for me.”
The Buckeyes and Badgers face off against each other Saturday night at Value City Arena at the Schottenstein Center. The game will be streamed on Big Ten Network. Puck drop is at 4:30 p.m.
