Penn State hockey (21-15-1, 10-13-1 Big Ten) entered the postseason in a familiar position: with their backs against the wall.
They also found themselves in a familiar building against a familiar opponent: Ohio State (20-14-3, 11-11-2 Big Ten) at Value City Arena. Penn State knocked out Ohio State on home ice in the Big Ten semifinals in 2019 and famously became the first team to win a quarterfinal series on the road last year.
Road games were not kind to Penn State in the second half of the season. They went 1-4-1 in games away from Pegula Ice Arena since January 1st. The Lions’ shocking loss to Wisconsin last week put them in a position where they needed to double that win total in a single weekend to keep their Big Ten title hopes alive.
Game 1: A Woeful Performance
If a single game could encapsulate all of Penn State hockey’s second-half woes, Friday night would be it. The Nittany Lions lost 5-1 in a game they seemingly never had any hope in.
Just four minutes into the game, Ohio State netted their first goal of the night. Penn State headed into the locker room after the first period leading in shots and only trailing by a single goal.
Then the wheels came off shortly into the second period. Matching penalties set up a four-on-four where Ohio State scored twice quickly. They would add another goal later in the period on a power play.
One positive emerged in the third period when center Ture Linden scored a power play goal for Penn State. Penn State’s special teams have been much maligned all season, coming into the game with the 47th-ranked power play and 52nd-ranked penalty kill.
Ohio State came into the game with the nation’s best penalty kill. It was encouraging to see Penn State find the net against the best penalty kill unit, even if the goal was ultimately meaningless to the result. Penn State finding consistency on special teams will need to be a huge boost if they want to succeed in the postseason.
Liam Souliere had a decent game, despite allowing five goals. Defensive lapses caused him to see 39 Buckeyes shots. He made 34 saves. In a string of recent poor performances, this was not one of Souliere’s worst nights.
Game 2: Lions Rally in a Thriller
Trailing 1-0 in the series, Penn State needed a win to keep their Big Ten title hopes alive.
Even in the high-event sport of hockey, this one lacked a lot of action, at least at first. Penn State was content to lock down on defense, while Ohio State played a conservative game in order not to let Penn State back into the series. A couple of penalties were scattered around the first two periods, but neither power play units could connect. Defenseman Jimmy Dowd, Jr. even got called for a rare five-minute slashing major, which the Lions were able to kill off.
Things did not get interesting until late in the third period. With under four minutes left, center Xander Lamppa found left wing Ryan Kirwan, who got lost behind the Ohio State defense. Kirwan made no mistake and gave Penn State their first lead of the series. This was the talented sophomore’s first goal since November 23rd against Alaska. The Nittany Lions desperately needed his offensive presence, which was sorely missed when he was out with an injury since December.
Ohio State was not going to go away without a fight, however. They pulled their goalie in the dying minutes and peppered the Penn State net. One of those shots found its way through a screen and past Liam Souliere to tie the game with just over a minute remaining.
The teams would trade chances in the final minute, but the game would head to overtime.
After a full intermission, the teams took the ice for a sudden death five-on-five 20-minute overtime. There were some good early chances for both teams, including an Ohio State breakaway that was denied by Souliere. About halfway through the first overtime, the teams took matching penalties. Shortly into the four-on-four, left wing Connor MacEachern found right wing Kevin Wall streaking through the middle of the ice. Wall fired it home and gave Penn State hockey the thrilling 2-1 overtime victory.
Liam Souliere stood on his head during this game like no Penn State goalie has ever done. He made 55 saves on 56 shots, which set the program record for most saves in a single game by a goalie. Matthew Skoff set the previous record of 52 in 2014 against Michigan State. And Penn State needed every last one of those saves to keep their season alive.
Game 3: History Doesn’t Always Repeat
Coach Guy Gadowsky said earlier in the week that he wasn’t interested in discussing the similarities between last year’s playoff and this year’s. Even with that disinterest, it was hard to ignore how similar they were.
Last year, Penn State took a bad loss in the first game, only to come back and win the next two and the series. It had played out exactly like that up to Sunday night. But it wouldn’t end the same way.
Things could have gone downhill for Penn State around midway through the first. After Penn State dominated the run of play, Ohio State seemingly scored on only their third shot of the night. However, Gadowsky decided to challenge, and it was determined that there was goaltender interference, negating the goal.
Despite no goals to show for it, the first was dominated by Penn State. Shots were 12-5 in favor of the Nittany Lions.
The Nittany Lions continued their strong run of play, and it finally paid off. Just over six minutes into the seconds, Penn State got an odd-man rush, and Kevin Wall got a clean shot off. The shot was initially stopped but had enough momentum to barely cross the goal line and give the Nittany Lions the lead.
Ohio State would tie it just a few minutes later on the power play. After that goal, the ice started to tilt more in favor of the Buckeyes. A three-on-one allowed them to take a 2-1 late in the second period. The shots narrowed to 20-18 Penn State in a period dominated by Ohio State, despite the Nittany Lions’ goal.
Penn State started the third in a dire spot. They needed at least a goal to keep their Big Ten title hopes alive while containing the surging Buckeyes. But the task was too tall. A period of back and forth didn’t see Penn State find the equalizer. Penn State pulled the goaltender, allowing Ohio State to add on an empty netter to ice the game with a final score of 3-1.
This is the second time in the history of Penn State hockey that they failed to win a round in the Big Ten tournament. The only other time came in the program’s infancy during the 2014-2015 season. Despite the success, the team has not won a Big Ten title since the 2016-2017 season.
Penn State Hockey Heads to Allentown
Even with the series loss, Penn State’s spot in the NCAA is still locked in. They will be headed to the Allentown Regional bracket of the tournament and will play in Allentown, PA, on March 24th.
Information about the opponent and timing will be released on Selection Sunday in two weeks.
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