Good afternoon, hockey fans. We’ve got a full slate of Buckeye puck this week. The men’s team dives back into Big Ten play at East Lansing while the women play host to Penn State.
No. 8 Buckeye Men at Michigan State
| Game Info | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|
| Opening Faceoff | 7pm ET | 7pm ET |
| Television | None | None |
| Radio | 1460 AM | 1460 AM |
| Streaming Video | BTN Plus ($) | BTN Plus ($) |
Last week Ohio State capped its non-conference action for the season with a sweep of Niagara. The Bucks finished with a 7-0-3 record out of conference, which is good given the low difficulty of that schedule. Now OSU turns its full attention to the Big Ten. It’s conference games only from here on out. The Buckeyes begin at Michigan State.
Spartan Report
| Team Stats | Ohio State | Michigan State |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 12-4-4, 5-4-1-0 B1G | 8-11-1, 2-7-1-1 B1G |
| Avg. Goals For / Against | 2.80 / 2.05 | 2.45 / 3.05 |
| Power Play / Penalty Kill | 16% / 92% | 23.4% / 80% |
| Points Leader | Tanner Laczynski (25) | Taro Hirose (24) |
| Top Goaltender | Sean Romeo (1.93/.928) | John Lethemon (2.58/.910) |
Michigan State’s results have been going downhill for some time now. After previous win totals of 17 and then 10, the Spartans posted just seven victories last season and finished dead last in the Big Ten. MSU overhauled its staff this past summer, bringing in head coach Danton Cole and a new crew of assistants. These include former Buckeye assistant coach Joe Exter.
In addition to those behind it, there are plenty of fresh faces on the Spartans’ bench as well. MSU is a very green team with only three seniors and four juniors. Despite their inexperience, several of Michigan State’s youngsters are leading the way this season.
| Big Ten Standings | Gms | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| No. 1/2 Notre Dame | 10 | 30 |
| No. 8 Ohio State | 10 | 16 |
| No. 13/14 Penn State | 10 | 15 |
| No. 10 Minnesota | 12 | 14 |
| No. 15 Wisconsin | 10 | 13 |
| RV Michigan | 10 | 12 |
| Michigan State | 10 | 8 |
A trio of underclassmen tops the Spartans in scoring. Sophomore Taro Hirose (7-17--24) and freshman Mitch Lewandowski (10-13--23) are both point-per-game players. Sophomore Patrick Khodorenko (9-9--18) is just shy of that mark. Together these three players account for more than half of Michigan State’s goals.
Second year goaltender John Lethemon ranks among the top 15 netminders in the country. He owns three shutouts this season. Two of his whitewashes came in Big Ten competition, one a 38 save effort against Wisconsin and the other a 29 save blanking of Michigan.
Michigan State has talent but the team lacks consistency, especially on the defensive side of things. That makes for an uphill climb in this year’s stacked Big Ten and the Spartans do trail the league. However, they are near the .500 mark overall and are showing signs that the team is on the rebound.
Buckeye Outlook
This series is one Ohio State needs to win. MSU boasts talented players and a certain amount of team improvement but it is still the B1G’s last place team. The Buckeyes can’t expect to be contenders while giving away points to the league’s resident cellar dweller. The Bucks should come out of the series alright. They need to be on their game in East Lansing, though. The Spartans are 7-3-0 at home this season and every Big Ten point they own was earned at Munn Arena.
No. 6/7 Buckeye Women vs. Penn State
| Game Info | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|
| Opening Faceoff | 6pm ET | 3pm ET |
| Streaming Video | BuckeyeVision ($) | BuckeyeVision ($) |
Ohio State’s women hit the ice this week for their first game action since the holiday break, hosting non-conference Penn State. (Yep, this is a non-conference series. Address your complaints to Michigan, Michigan State and/or Notre Dame. We need two more teams for a women’s Big Ten. The Buckeyes, Nittany Lions, Gophers, and Badgers are already on board.)
Scouting the Nittany Lions
| Team Stats | Penn State | Ohio State |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 4-7-8, 2-2-4 CHA | 12-4-4, 8-2-4-3 WCHA |
| Avg. Goals For / Against | 1.53 / 1.74 | 3.15 / 2.35 |
| Power Play / Penalty Kill | 10.5% / 84.8% | 17.2% / 84.3% |
| Points Leader | Natalie Heising (13) | Emma Maltais (25) |
| Top Goaltender | Daniela Paniccia (1.50/.941) | Kassidy Sauve (2.30/.923) |
The Bucks come into this week’s series off a 19 day layoff. That’s small potatoes compared to Penn State’s hiatus, though. The Nittany Lions haven’t seen game action since December 2.
Before the break PSU battled to a 4-7-8 overall record. The team succeeded on the strength of its defense. The Nittany Lions did not allow more than three goals in any game. The stat is particularly notable because the schedule was far from marshmallow soft. Penn State faced current No. 3 Clarkson, No. 5 Cornell, and No. 8/9 Robert Morris (twice).
| WCHA Standings | Gms | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| No. 1 Wisconsin | 12 | 36 |
| No. 7/6 Minnesota | 16 | 32 |
| No. 6/7 Ohio State | 14 | 31 |
| RV Bemidji State | 14 | 20 |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 14 | 17 |
| St. Cloud State | 14 | 5 |
| Minnesota State | 12 | 3 |
But while the Nittany Lions have been impressive in their own end, they have struggled to score overall. They have been shut out five times this season. On another six occasions the team mustered just a single goal.
Though the team offense languishes, a pair of stellar rookies shines. Natalie Heising and Katie Rankin rank among the top 10 freshmen in the country. Heising is a two time CHA Rookie of the Month and a former gold medal winner with Team USA’s U-18 squad.
Buckeye Outlook
Victory this week probably comes down to which team shakes off the holiday rust better. Ohio State has an offensive advantage in the series, but not as large of one as they ordinarily would. Leading scorer Emma Maltais is in Germany this week representing Team Canada at the Nations Cup. Still, OSU has owned the teams' all-time series (7-1-0) and even without Maltais the Buckeyes retain enough firepower to manage at least a split.
Home Cooking
This week marks the first of 10 upcoming home games for the Buckeyes. Only two of their remaining series take place away from the OSU Ice Rink. Teams visiting Columbus over the final stretch of the season include No. 8/9 Robert Morris, No. 7/6 Minnesota, and No. 1 Wisconsin. Admission and parking to all women’s hockey games is free. If you’re thinking about checking the action out for yourself, the middle of a potential program-record year is a great time to do it.
