No. 6 Buckeyes Hit the Road for Series vs. No. 1 Notre Dame
Ohio State and Irish face off in Big Ten series
No. 6 Ohio State at No. 1 Notre Dame
Friday, Feb. 9, 7:35 p.m. | Compton Family Ice Arena, Notre Dame, Ind.
Saturday, Feb. 10, 7:05 p.m. | Compton Family Ice Arena, Notre Dame, Ind.
Setting the Scene
- The No. 6-ranked Ohio State men’s hockey team hits the road for two games at No. 1 Notre Dame this weekend. The Buckeyes (18-6-4, 11-6-1-0 B1G) and Fighting Irish (21-5-2, 15-2-1-1 B1G) will meet at 7:35 p.m. Friday and 7:05 p.m. Saturday in Compton Family Ice Arena in Notre Dame, Ind.
- This is the second series between the teams this season. Notre Dame swept the first two games, posting 4-1 and 3-2 wins Nov. 3-4 in Columbus. They are the only two back-to-back losses for the Buckeyes this season.
- The Buckeyes are 10-2 in their last 12 games, while Notre Dame, which had a 16-game winning streak earlier this season, is 9-2-1 over its last 12 games.
- Ohio State is coming off a four-game homestand and last played on the road Jan. 12-13 when it split a series at Penn State. The Buckeyes are 10-2-1 in road games this year and Notre Dame is 10-3-1 at home.
- The Buckeyes and Irish are the Top 2 teams in the Big Ten in scoring defense (ND 1st/2.0 goals allowed per game; OSU 2nd/2.21 goals allowed per game), power play (OSU 1st/.235; ND 2nd/.215) and penalty killing (OSU 1st/.904; ND 2nd/.880). Among Big Ten teams, Ohio State is fourth in scoring offense (3.14 goals per game) and Notre Dame is fifth (3.07 goals per game).
- Ohio State is in second place in the Big Ten with 34 points and an 11-6-1-0 ledger, with Notre Dame in first place with 47 points and a record of 15-2-1-1. The Buckeyes are followed by Wisconsin (28 points), Michigan (27), Penn State (25), Minnesota (23) and Michigan State (14). ND, OSU, MN and MSU have six games left, while UM, UW, and PSU have four games remaining. The first place team in the final standings earns a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament, while teams 2-4 host Nos. 5-7 in best-of-three series. Semifinal and final games will also be on campus sites, with the highest remaining seeds hosting. A win is worth three points in the standings. In a tie, each team receives one point and a shootout is held for an extra point.
Follow Along
- The game Friday will be televised on NBCSN and streamed through the NBC Sports app, along with on the TSN Go app in Canada, with Dan Parkhurst and Anson Carter calling the action. The Saturday contest will be streamed through the NBC Sports app.
- Ohio State radio will carry the games on 1460 AM in Columbus, through Buckeye Vision on OhioStateBuckeyes.com and on the TuneIn app for mobile devices. Herb Howenstine and John Mowat will call the action.
- Live stats will be available on GameTracker on OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
- Video and live stats links can be found on the men’s hockey schedule and gameday pages on OhioStateBuckeyes.com, with ingame updates on Twitter @OhioState_MHKY as well.
Buckeye Notes to Know
- The Buckeyes are 10-2 in the last 12 games, averaging 3.75 goals a game and allowing 2.17 over the stretch.
- Ohio State ranks in the Top 10 in the NCAA on the penalty kill (1st/.904), power play (8th/.235) and team defense (2.17 gapg).
- Three Buckeyes are on the Hobey Baker Award fan ballot and rank among the Top 8 scorers in the Big Ten – Tanner Laczynski is first with 37 points, Matthew Weis is tied for third with 32 and Mason Jobst is seventh with 29. In Big Ten play only, Laczynski has a league-best 23 points, while Weis and Jobst (who tied for the Big Ten scoring title a year ago and is second all-time in points in Big Ten games) are tied for fourth with 20 points each. Laczynski and Weis are the fifth-highest scoring tandem in the NCAA, averaging 2.46 points per game (according to College Hockey Inc.).
- Ohio State, playing its first road series in three weeks this weekend, is 10-2-1 on the road this season, ranking third nationally in road wins and road winning percentage.
- Four Buckeyes – Mason Jobst (13), Tanner Laczynski (12), Dakota Joshua (11) and Freddy Gerard (10) – have hit the 10-goal mark.
- Matthew Weis enters the weekend on a 12-game point streak (4g, 15a, 19p), while Mason Jobst has a point in each of his last five games. Tanner Laczynski had an 11-game point streak end Saturday.
- When scoring first this season, Ohio State is undefeated (12-0-2). The squad is 6-6-2 when allowing the first tally.
- Ohio State is averaging 3.14 goals per game overall this season and is scoring 3.9 goals a night since returning from break Dec. 8, ranking third nationally since that time.
Just the Stats
- Ohio State is averaging 3.14 goals a game and is allowing 2.12 goals per outing, ranking seventh nationally in scoring defense and tying for 16th in scoring offense.
- The Buckeye power play is 27-for-115 (.235) on the year, with a power play goal in eight of the last nine games. The squad is eighth in the NCAA with the man advantage.
- The penalty kill has stopped 94-of-104 opponent opportunities (.904), ranking first in the NCAA. The squad averages 9.4 penalty minutes per game.
- Ohio State is averaging 32.3 shots on goal a game and allowing 28 shots on goal a night.
- Sophomore Tanner Laczynski is first on the squad with 25 assists and 37 points. Junior Mason Jobst is first with 13 goals, followed by Laczynski with 12, Dakota Joshua with 11 and Freddy Gerard with 10. Senior Matthew Weis is second with 23 assists and 32 points, with Jobst third with 16 helpers and 29 points.
- Sophomore Matt Miller leads the Buckeye blueliners with 11 points and junior Sasha Larocque has a team-high 58 blocked shots.
- In goal, redshirt junior Sean Romeo has started 25 games and has a 2.15 goals-against average and .921 save percentage, with a 15-6-4 record. Freshman Tommy Nappier has three starts and five appearances, posting a 1.86 goals-against average and .943 save percentage, with three wins.
In the Rankings
- Ohio State moved from a season-high No. 5 last week to No. 6 in the USCHO poll this week. The Buckeyes remained sixth in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine rankings for the fourth consecutive week.
- Ohio State has been in the Top 10 for seven consecutive polls, ranked in the USCHO Top 20 for 13 straight polls (and 14 weeks overall) and in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 15 for nine straight rankings. The squad has received votes in every edition of both polls this season.
- Ohio State moved into the Top 10 in both national polls in the last rankings of 2017, coming in at No. 9 in the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls released Dec. 11 and was No. 8 in the first rankings of 2018.
- The Buckeyes started the year ranked 19th in the USCHO poll, but dropped into the receiving votes category for three polls in a row. The squad moved back into the Top 20 at No. 16 Oct. 30 and remained ranked, moving to a then-high of 11th Nov. 27.
- Ohio State was in the receiving votes category of the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 15 poll through each of the first nine polls. The Buckeyes entered the poll Nov. 27 at No. 13.
- In the latest USCHO poll, six Big Ten teams are ranked – No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 12 Minnesota, No. 16 Penn State, No. 17 Wisconsin and No. 19 Michigan.
- In the latest USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll, Notre Dame is No. 1, Ohio State is No. 6 and Minnesota is No. 9. Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan are receiving votes.
In the B1G
- Heading into this weekend, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Minnesota and Michigan State have six Big Ten games left, while Wisconsin, Michigan and Penn State each have four games remaining.
- In addition to the Ohio State vs. Notre Dame series this weekend, Minnesota travels to Wisconsin and Michigan and Michigan State face off Friday in East Lansing and Saturday in Detroit.
- Notre Dame is first in the Big Ten with 47 points and a 15-2-1-1 ledger. Ohio State is in second with 34 points (11-6-1-0), with Wisconsin standing third with 28 points (8-9-3-1). Michigan (8-10-2-1/27 points) is fourth, with Penn State (6-9-5-2/25) fifth and Minnesota (7-10-1-1/23) sixth. Michigan State has 14 points with a 4-13-1-1 ledger.
- With the addition of Notre Dame to the league this year, the conference has changed its postseason format, going to a three-round tournament on campus sites. The No. 1 seed will receive a first round bye, with Nos. 2-4 hosting 5-7 in best of three quarterfinal series March 2-4. The highest remaining seeds will then host single game semifinals March 10 before a championship game hosted by the highest remaining seed March 17.
- Teams face each other four times – twice at home and twice on the road. Penn State was the first Big Ten team Ohio State wrapped its season series with, followed by Michigan and Michigan State and Notre Dame this weekend.
Buckeyes in the B1G
- In Big Ten games only, Ohio State leads the conference teams in scoring offense (3.28 goals per game), power play (20-for-72, .278) and penalty kill (58-for-63, .921) and ranks second in scoring defense (2.61 goals allowed per game).
- Individually, Tanner Laczynski is first in the conference with 23 points. Mason Jobst has a 10-10-20 line and Matthew Weis has posted 3-17-20 totals to tie for fourth among all conference skaters. Jobst and Freddy Gerard (who leads B1G skaters with a +13 mark) are tied for second with 10 goals each, with Dakota Joshua tied for sixth with nine. Weis is first with 17 assists, followed by Laczynski in third with 16.
- Junior Mason Jobst has 74 points in 57 career Big Ten games, the second-highest career total among all Big Ten players since the league began in 2013-14. Justin Kloos of Minnesota holds the record, with 86 points over four years and 80 games. Jobst is second all-time with 32 goals in B1G play, behind Buckeye Nick Schilkey, who had 36 from 2013-17.
- Among players with 30+ B1G games played, Jobst ranks first with 1.3 points per game in league play. He is tied with Schilkey for the league record with 14 career power play goals.
- Senior Matthew Weis is seventh all-time with 65 points in Big Ten outings (in 71 games) and his 48 career assists rank second all-time behind Kloos.
Special Teams Synopsis
- The Buckeyes rank first in the NCAA on the penalty kill, stopping 94-of-104 (.904) opponent chances. The squad allowed one goal on two chances vs. Michigan State last Friday but rebounded with a 4-for-4 night in game two. The team has allowed a power play goal in nine games this season and has 10 games when it is 4-for-4 or better.
- Ohio State’s power play has 27 goals on 115 chances (.235) this season, ranking eighth nationally. Last weekend, the team was 2-for-4 in game one and 3-for-5 in game two. The squad has a power play goal in eight of the last nine games, with multiple power play goals in seven of those games.
- The Buckeyes started the season scoreless on the power play in their first four games, going 0-for-20. Since then (starting Oct. 20 at UMass), the squad is 27-for-95 (.284) to rank third nationally in that time.
- Mason Jobst has seven of the Buckeyes’ power play goals, tying for 12th nationally. Dakota Joshua has five PPGs and Matthew Weis has scored four times with the man advantage. Tanner Laczynski (3), Ronnie Hein (2), John Wiitala (2) all have multiple power play goals and Kevin Miller, Freddy Gerard and Christian Lampasso have each scored once on the power play.
- Last season, the Buckeyes led the NCAA on the power play, converting 31.6 percent of their chances (49-for-155). On the penalty kill in 2016-17, Ohio State was 120-for-161 (.745).