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Men's Hockey
Buckeyes Ice Nanooks, Force Game 3
By Craig Merz

The Buckeye traveling party was scheduled to leave Fairbanks at 1:25 a.m. Monday morning (5:25 a.m. Columbus time) regardless of what happened in Game 2 Saturday of the best-of-three quarterfinals series at Alaska.

If Ohio State had suffered a second straight setback after falling 4-0 Friday, the team would have had all day Sunday to contemplate the end of their season.

Instead, the No. 14 Buckeyes once again showed their resiliency and responded with an entertaining 4-2 win over the Nanooks to even the series.

The deciding game is tonight at 10:05 p.m. (Columbus) on WOSU-AM 820/wosu.org. with the winner advancing to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association semifinals Friday at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
“Play hard and play together or you’re going home,” is what OSU coach John Markell told his team before the game.

“We were moving our feet better today and did the little things to attack more. We were defending way too much (Friday). We played the game with more energy. That’s why I was disappointed yesterday. We had no energy.”

Kyle Reed had two goals to pace the Buckeyes (23-13-4) to a 3-1 lead but was a score by C.J. Severyn early in the third that proved to be crucial.

C.J. Is OK

Alaska (16-4-6) had just pulled to within one after Dion Knelsen took advantage of a fortuitous bounce and scored short-handed just 26 second into the final stanza. The home crowd of 3,213, which had seen the Nanooks score two straight goals, was roaring and the Buckeyes were back on their heels.

But Severyn notched his ninth goal at 4:46 – with assists to Cory Schneider and Zach Pelletier - to regain a two-goal lead and the Buckeyes were able to hold on despite having to kill four penalties in the period. The last to Fairbanks native Hunter Bishop with 1:49 to play allowed the Nanooks to pull their goalie for a two-man advantage but Dustin Carlson was rock solid between the pipes. He had 16 of his 31 saves in the last 20 minutes.

“Our guys did a good job responding,” to Alaska’s second goal, said OSU video coordinator JB Bittner.

“It was a huge goal for them. Their fans got back into the game, whooping and hollering. We did a good job staying even keel and coming back to get that fourth won to secure the win.

“(Dusty) played a really good game, especially there in the late in the third. He made some really spectacular saves to keep them off the board, keep it a two-goal lead.”

The series has followed the one in Fairbanks six weeks earlier when the Buckeyes were blown out 4-1 in the opener but came back the next night with a 6-2 thumping, including five goals on the first period.

Baked Alaskan

Saturday’s start wasn’t as impressive but just as effective against Alaska netminder Chad Johnson, a Hobey Baker candidate as the best player on college hockey, who was a first team All-CCHA selection. His 1.64 goals against average was second nationally and the team’s staunch 1.34 GAA was the best. The shutout Friday was his fifth of the season.

The Buckeyes finally showed why they had the sixth-best offense (3.58) in the nation after being blanked for the first time in 13 months.
Needing a quick start, Reed put sniper’s shot over the shoulder of Johnson at 4:23 with defensemen Matt Bartkowski and Corey Toy assisting.

“Johnson’s a great goalie,” Reed said. “We had guys in front of him and I had to take advantage of it. I saw an opening and the puck fit through there. I’ll take it any way I can. It’s the playoffs. I could care less if I get two tomorrow. If we win, that’s all that matters.”

Defenseman Shane Sims made it 2-0 at 15:26 while on the power play with a shot that deflected off an the skate off Alaska defenseman Dustin Molle skate. Sergio Somma and Bishop assisted.

“I guess in the hockey world when you play hard and you feel like you’re playing well, you always seem to get more bounces,” Somma said. “When you’re not playing as well, they always seem to go against you, and when you’re not working as well, they always seem to go against you, too.”

Playing With A Purpose

After being outshot 11-4 in the opening period Friday, the Buckeyes turned it around to take 14 of the 21 in the first in Game 2.

“We came out flat last night. We wanted to come out and get the jump them tonight and we did that. We wanted establish our forecheck probably four or five times that period,” Bittner said. “We had 22 hits, which is way above what are goal for the game projected over three periods.

“We kept it deep. They only offense they had the whole period was the turnover we had at their offensive blueline. They don’t have a lot of highly offensive players. They make you turn the puck over then catch you on transition.”

Reed scored his eighth of the season with Toy and Somma getting the helpers at 11:14 of the second for a 3-0 advantage but the Nanooks were given a power play right afterward and responded with Scott Enders scoring at 13:32.

“We would have liked to gone into the third with a 3-0 lead but we did a lot of things well,” Bittner said. “We bounced back well after that shift.”

Spreading The Wealth

The Buckeyes won despite having top two scorers Corey Elkins and John Albert silent for a second straight game.

“When your two big guns don’t score and you still win 4-2 that shows a team effort there,” Bittner said.

“Corey and Johnny Albert played a better game (than Friday). They were on loose pucks. They were carrying the puck with speed through the neutral zone. They were both better on faceoffs than they were last night and were contributing in other ways.”

The big question is which OSU team will show up for the deciding game?

“The way the series has gone and the way the series went the last time we played them we’ll probably know in the first five minutes which way the game is going to go,” Bittner said. “It’s really important for our guys to get on the board first. We go into a shell when we gave up the first one. When we score first you see the guy’s momentum pick up.”

Markell was just happy to see Reed continue his late season surge. He had a hat trick against Miami in the second to last game of the regular season and is two shy of the 10 goals he scored last season as a freshman.

"It was a good time to score two goals," said Markell.

Season On The Line

Ohio State is fighting not only to stay alive in the CCHA but its hopes for an NCAA bid is at stake.

The USCHO.com Pairwise Rankings that accurately predicts the tournament field has the Buckeyes tied for 12th with Minnesota and Princeton and just behind Cornell. The top 14 teams plus two lower ranked schools with automatic bids will qualify.

Minnesota has already clinched its playoff series while Princeton and Cornell have deciding games Sunday as well.

“(Sunday) is going to be a tough game. I expect our guys our guys to show up. It’s three games in three nights,” Markell said.

“The guys are up to the challenge. We were up to it today.”

Recap of Game One

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