Men's Hockey
Weekly Hockey Update
By Paula C. Weston

It’s only Thursday, but already this week the Buckeyes have beaten a team from you-know-where.

On Tuesday, Nov. 15, the unranked men’s ice hockey team snapped a four-game losing streak by defeating No. 13 Michigan State, 3-2, in front of 4,564 satisfied customers in Value City Arena.

“We’re satisfied with the win,” said head coach John Markell. “We needed something positive to happen. We feel we played a good game, not a great game.”

The victory also ended OSU’s five-game winless streak dating back to Oct. 20, and improved the Bucks’ record to 3-5-1, 2-4-1 in Central Collegiate Hockey Association play. Another streak that came to an end: 0-for-39 on the power play.

And all this from a team that was picked by the coaches and the media to finish first in the CCHA this season.

The trouble began when the Buckeyes struggled to tie Bowling Green at home Oct. 20, and continued when they were swept in two games on the road by Western Michigan Oct. 28-29, a team picked to finish at or near the bottom of the standings by coaches and media in preseason.

When a home-and-home series against ranked Miami Nov. 4-5 produced two more losses, the Buckeyes knew something had to be done. Thankfully, said Markell, there was time to do it, given that OSU had a bye week Nov. 11-12 before meeting the Spartans Tuesday night.

To turn the slide around, Markell said, “We didn’t let them off the hook.

“We practiced hard on Monday, took Tuesday off and broke down on video, practiced hard on Wednesday, lifted [Thursday], broke down video from Wednesday.

“Little things, like when you backcheck, what does backcheck mean? What does battle mean? We defined a lot of little things that make you a better hockey club. We lost a battle, we broke that down: from the entrance, to the engagement, to the exit of the battle.

“We did a lot of teaching this week, but we were very fortunate that we did not play Friday and Saturday. Very fortunate. We were able to get focused and we did a tremendous amount of tape work.”

Assistant captain Sean Collins said that after the losses to Miami, the Buckeyes had to get back to the proverbial basics.

“I think after that Western weekend we were kind of second-guessing ourselves. With the weekend off, we kind of regrouped, started from square one, started from scratch.

“It’s always hard to get out of a slump, but we realized that the only way we were going to get out of it was with hard work, and I think that’s what we did.”

The efforts paid off in a solid win against a good but fatigued Michigan State squad. While the Buckeyes had a bye week to regroup, the Spartans played their sixth game in 12 days when they came to Columbus, something that factored into outcome, said MSU head coach Rick Comley.

“We’ve played a lot of games in a short stretch and been beaten up doing it, but I thought our kids worked hard and I thought Ohio State’s too good a team to lose as much as they’ve lost.

“They had nine days rest. They didn’t get themselves into penalty trouble as they’ve done in some recent games, so I thought they played up to their capabilities, and I thought we played well enough to win on the road.”

Junior Andrew Schembri had the game-winning goal as well as the tally that broke the scoreless power-play streak. Sophomore Tom Fritsche had a goal and an assist, and senior Dave Caruso picked up his third win of the season with 14 saves. OSU outshot MSU 35-16.

After the game, Markell said, “I thought Andrew Schembri deserved a goal at some point tonight. I thought he was probably one of the better players, and certainly when he gets two that’s important.”

Penalties and Points

The Buckeyes are again leading the league in penalty minutes, averaging over 32 minutes per game in overall play. Of course, many teams are seeing increased minutes this season because of a rules emphasis on checking-from-behind penalties. The five-minute variety of this infraction carries with it an automatic game misconduct and may even be paired with a game disqualification. Both of those piggy-back calls count as 10 minutes in the penalty column.

While the Buckeyes have had their share of such calls this season, they remained poised and disciplined during Tuesday’s win. In fact, neither team earned a penalty until early in the second, when OSU found itself on three consecutive penalty kills.

Ironically, it was a five-minute major for checking from behind called against Michigan State’s Tim Crowder in the third that gave the Buckeyes the opportunity to tie the game and swing the momentum. With the Spartans leading 2-1, Crowder was called for checking OSU’s Matt Waddell from behind, and Schembri scored the leveler.

“I thought they were both kind of lunging at the puck,” said Comley, “but whether it was behind or not, I don’t really know. It certainly wasn’t much of anything, I didn’t really think, but as we’ve seen this year, that call decides games.”

Fritsche opened the scoring for the Buckeyes at 10:52 in the first with help from Collins and Nate Guenin. Cycling the puck in front of the Spartan net, Guenin passed from the far side of the right circle over to Collins at the top of the left circle; MSU goaltender Dominic Vicari dropped low and to the left to block a possible Collins shot, leaving Fritsche and half the Spartan net available. OSU led 1-0 after one.

It was Justin Abdelkader who scored on the second Spartan power play at 9:50 in the second to even the game 1-1, a tic-tac-toe goal from Chris Mueller and Ethan Graham with a little screening help from Crowder.

Then at 10:04, just after the faceoff following Abdelkader’s goal, Tyler Howells beat OSU’s Tyson Strachan in the left corner to backhand a centering pass to Jim McKenzie, whose own backhanded shot from the slot jumped over the right skate of OSU goaltender Dave Caruso and into the net for the 2-1 Spartan lead.

Crowder’s penalty at 2:07 in the third gave the Buckeyes the extra man for five minutes and Kyle Hood the chance to show how patience can be a virtue. From the top of the slot, Hood pumped to shoot and drew Howells to ice level to block the shot, but the shot never came. Hood threatened to shoot again, and this time Daniel Vukovic dropped to the ice to block yet another faked shot.

With two Spartans committed and prone, Hood fired at Vicari, who made the initial save only to give the rebound to Schembri, camped near the right post, and the Buckeyes tied it at 3:40.

That goal seemed to lift Ohio State for the remainder of the game. Schembri scored the game-winner at 17:16, even strength, crashing the net after receiving Mathieu Beaudoin’s feed from the left wing on the fly.

“I think it was a bit of a chess match out there,” said Markell. “We were off nine days, and they were off Friday and Saturday…and maybe we had a little bit more jump than they did.

“I thought in the second period, that they kind of took the momentum away from us when we had to kill off three penalties, and they scored one [on the power play]. Certainly in the third, I thought we came out with a little more jump.

“The guys talked about it in the dressing room. It was the exact position we’ve been in before. We talked ourselves into the way we played previously. Obviously, the five-minute penalty was a bit of a momentum changer. We were very fortunate to get a goal.”

Collins said that even though OSU trailed 2-1 going into the third, the players never gave up. “We talked about how awful it feels coming into the locker room after a loss, and how we didn’t want that tonight and we were going to do whatever it took to come into the locker room with a win.”

They Wear Blue and Yellow and They Are from Michigan, but …

Next up for OSU is a pair of home games against Lake Superior State. The Lakers hail from Sault Ste. Marie, which is in Michigan, and their jerseys sport colors hated by most Buckeye fans, but the real motivation for the Bucks this weekend is simple. Says Markell, “We know that Lake State is above us in the standings.”

It seems inconceivable to most CCHA fans, but Lake Superior State (4-3-3, 3-3-2 CCHA) has sole possession of fourth place in the CCHA standings in the early going, while OSU owns last place. This weekend’s series cannot even reverse fortunes for the team; with four points at stake and five separating the teams, the best the Buckeyes can do is come to within one point of the Lakers should OSU sweep.

And although the Buckeyes have not lost to the Lakers in the past 11 meetings (9-0-2), OSU knows how tough these games will be, especially with LSSU starting goaltender Jeff Jakaitis (.913 SV%) between the pipes.

“We know that they’re a hard-working team and they play their systems really well,” said Collins.

The Lakers split at home with No. 12 Miami last weekend, losing 3-0 Friday and winning 3-2 Saturday. That’s the same Miami that swept OSU two weeks ago.

Under first-year head coach Jim Roque, the Lakers are blossoming offensively while still playing a good brand of defense at the other end. Junior Jeffrey Rainville (3-5—8) leads LSSU in scoring, and13 Lakers have registered at least one goal in 10 games this season. Laker Dominic Osman and Buckeye Rod Pelley are tied for the lead in game-winning goals in the CCHA, each with two this season.

Markell said that the Buckeyes will prepare for the Lakers the same way they did for the Spartans, with plenty of homework.

“We’re going to take the win and watch the tape, like we watched our practice tape. We’re going to be able to show our guys and continue on our path of what they do right and what they need to work on. They’re getting used to it, and that’s what they want. That’s what they’re responding to. It’s a lot better when you go through a win like this.”

Both games, Friday and Saturday, begin at 7:05 p.m. at Value City Arena. The first 2,000 fans through the gate at Friday’s game will be given Eddie George Stacker Dolls.

Fans can listen to both games live on WOSU 820 AM.

Bits and Pieces

* Tuesday’s come-from-behind win was a first for the Buckeyes since OSU beat Ferris State in the third game of last year’s first-round CCHA playoff action, March 13, 2005.

* With his two goals Tuesday night, Andrew Schembri becomes the goal leader for the Buckeyes this season with four total.

* With three goals and six assists, however, Tom Fritsche leads all Buckeyes in scoring.

* Only sophomore defenseman Kyle Hood has more than one goal on the ailing Buckeye power play. Hood has two.

* OSU’s five penalties for 10 minutes versus MSU was a season low.

* The Buckeyes have outshot their opponents in every game this season, averaging 34.2 shots per game to opponents’ average of 21.2.

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