Penn State Series Grades vs. Ohio State
For the second consecutive Big Ten Tournament, Penn State went on the road to face Ohio State in the quarterfinals.
Following a 5-1 Buckeye victory in game one, the Nittany Lions tied the series at one apiece with a 2-1 overtime victory in game two, before the Buckeyes took the decisive game three by a score of 3-1.
As the Buckeyes head to Ann Arbor to face Michigan, the Nittany Lions await their fate for the NCAA Tournament. While Penn State waits for its next opponent, let’s take a look at how each positional group fared against its last opponents.
Forwards: C-
The blue and white tallied just four goals during the three-game series as it couldn’t figure out Jakub Dobes.
Not only did Dobes shut Penn State down in this series, but over the seven games that these two teams played this season, the Nittany Lions were held to 15 goals. Those 2.14 goals per game against Ohio State were over a goal below the Nittany Lions’ season average of 3.2 goals per game.
This time around it was Kevin Wall, who recorded a point in six-of-seven games against the Buckeyes, recording two goals while Ture Linden and Ryan Kirwan chipped in goals of their own.
As for the other 93 shots that the Nittany Lions, who were outshot in the series by 23, none of them found their way past the goal line.
One bright spot for this group was its ability to win faceoffs in bunches. The blue and white outdrew the scarlet and gray 120-to-84 as it held the advantage in all three games, but failed to convert the possession to scores.
Defense: C+
Getting outshot over the course of a series falls on both the offense and defense, but since the Nittany Lions averaged over 32 shots per game this time, it can be blamed mainly on the defense.
Penn State’s blue liners yielded 39 shots to the Buckeyes on Friday, 56 on Saturday and 25 on Sunday for a series total of 120. It's rarely a recipe for success to have an average of 40 shots per game get to the goaltender as eventually one or two sneak by which is exactly what happened for the Nittany Lions.
In the offensive zone, where Penn State had nothing brewing, the defencemen provided three assists. One of those came from Jimmy Dowd Jr. while two came from freshman Dylan Gratton.
However, it was one of Gratton’s fellow freshman defenders, Jarod Crespo, who turned the puck over and allowed Ohio State’s Tate Singleton to deliver the dagger via an empty net goal in game three.
Goaltending: A-
If there was one player who did enough to warrant wins for Penn State it was Liam Souliere.
Souliere, who allowed seven goals on 90 shots in last year’s quarterfinal series, put the blue and white on his back for the second straight season stopping 111-of-119 shots that went his way.
In game one, Souliere allowed five goals on 39 shots, but the defensive unit in front of him did him no favors. That was the same story in game two, but the Brampton, Ontario native stood on his head making a program-record 55 saves.
Those 55 saves kept the Nittany Lions afloat, got them to overtime and eventually sealed the deal for them. The junior netminder did not face the same quantity of shots in game three, but the quality was still there and he was forced to step up yet again.
Coaching: C+
With two highly-competitive games, home-ice advantage likely played a factor for Ohio State, which makes the coaching mishaps down the stretch that led Penn State to a road series look that much worse.
Whether it was Pegula Ice Arena or Value City Arena, the Nittany Lions still had the chance to win this series, but flat and undisciplined hockey led to their demise.
The blue and white found itself a man-down on 14 separate occasions during the three-game series. Although the Nittany Lions killed off 12 of those attempts, the game-tying goal in game three off the stick of Cole McWard came with the Buckeyes on the five-on-four advantage.
On its own advantages, Penn State capitalized on one-of-eight chances against the nation’s best penalty-killing unit. That lone goal came while already trailing 4-0 in the series opener.
Guy Gadowsky and company did have success while challenging calls. Over the final two games of the series, Gadowsky issued four challenges and was successful on two of them, both of which erased Ohio State goals.
Justin Ciavolella is a second-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jtc5751@psu.edu.
