Last week was a difficult one for Buckeye hockey. Both the men’s and women’s teams faced their greatest challenges of the season. Neither squad, however, proved ready to conquer them. This week the regrouped Bucks look to resume their forward progress. Here’s the lowdown on all the action.

No. 17 Buckeye Men at Connecticut

Last week Ohio State was swept by current No. 6 Notre Dame. The Bucks put a lot of rubber on the Irish net. While they produced a substantial quantity of shots, they once again struggled with the quality.

The Buckeyes also continued in their trend of slow starts. They failed to get on the board in either opening period despite early power play opportunities. The details never came together for a Buckeye win, but the team battled to the end and very nearly pulled off a Saturday night comeback. 

Ohio State continues to iron out its issues this week in a non-conference match at Connecticut. If you were looking for competition specifically designed to fire up the flagging aspects of the Buckeye offense, you’d be hard pressed to find an opponent seemingly better suited to the task than UConn.

The Huskies are surrendering an average of 3.50 per game this season. They are also getting outscored in the first period 15-5 and their special teams are sputtering. Their power play is on an 0-for-13 skid and the penalty kill is running at a 62.5% success rate in the last five games.

Connecticut is 3-7-1 this season and coming off a split with Vermont. Last Friday’s win snapped a five game winless streak for the Huskies. Their most impressive result to date is a 2-2 tie with current No. 15 Boston University.

The Bucks and Huskies met in Columbus last season for a pair of wild, back-and-forth games. OSU took the first game 7-4. The teams tied 3-3 in the finale. This year’s series will have a much different look. The major players from 2017-18 (OSU's Dave Gust and Nick Schilkey, six goals, and UConn's Tage Thompson and Brian Morgan, five goals) have all moved on.

• Listen to goalie Sean Romeo, team captain Mason Jobst, and head coach Steve Rohlik preview the UConn series here.

No. 5 Buckeye Women vs. Minnesota State

The bye week blahs hit Ohio State hard last week. The Buckeyes got off to a disastrously slow start at Wisconsin. They rebounded to a degree but could not claim a point in their series against the top ranked Badgers. Now the Bucks return to the friendly confines of the OSU Ice Rink for a tilt with Minnesota State.

The Mavericks have had a stranglehold on the WCHA’s cellar for several seasons. The program owns a grand total of 13 wins in its last three seasons combined. On a positive note, scoring is up for the Mavs. The team has potted 20 goals already this year. They posted only 45 in all 2016-17.

Minnesota State is fairly experienced, having lost just four players to graduation. One of those outgoing seniors, though, was key starting goaltender Brianna Quade. Kathryn Bidulka has taken over the bulk of the net time in the current campaign.

This is not to say victory is automatic for Ohio State this week. MSU is a scrappy team and one that gave OSU fits last season. The Mavs and the Bucks played four tight games in 2016-17. The Scarlet and Gray came out only slightly ahead (2-1-1-0) in the season series.

Overall, though, I expect Ohio State will get back to its winning ways. The Buckeyes are better than their showing at Wisconsin and they know it. They’ll be eager to kick that losing streak to the curb and Minnesota State doesn’t have the weaponry to stop a fired up, dialed in Buckeye squad for long.

• If you're headed out to the games this week be sure to take note of the parking alert from Ohio State. 
• Tonight is Military Appreciation Night for the Bucks with camo beanies for the first 100 students in the door. Saturday is Alumni Night.  
• Here is freshman points leader Emma Maltais' take on the coming series and here's the take from head coach Nadine Muzerall.