Ohio State’s men’s hockey team has advanced to the title game of the Big Ten Tournament for the second straight season, and the fourth time in program history.
Despite entering Saturday’s semifinal against top-seeded Michigan State with a 13-20-2 record, the Buckeyes shocked the Spartans 3-2 in overtime, setting up a showdown in Saturday’s championship game against Michigan.
If Ohio State is able to beat the Wolverines in Ann Arbor they’ll earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
In the semifinal game against
Michigan State, the Spartans took the lead less than two minutes into the game after Shane Vansaghi scored. Ohio State would tie up the game near the midway point of the period when Riley Thompson found the back of the net.
The Buckeyes would take their first lead of the game early in the second period when Jake Karabela scored on the power play. Michigan State would respond on the power play at 17:29 of the second period to tie the game.
Following a scoreless third period, Ohio State didn’t take long to find a winner in overtime, as Felix Caron scored just over two minutes into the first extra period. The goal was the 14th on the season for Caron. Karabela finished with three points in the victory, and now has recorded at least one point in six straight games.
Goaltender Kristoffer Eberly put forth a huge effort between the pipes, stopping 36 Michigan State shots to keep Ohio State in the game in East Lansing.
Michigan earned their spot in the conference championship game with a 5-2 win over Gavin McKenna and Penn State. The Wolverines received goals from five different skaters in the game, with Kienan Draper lighting the lamp first at 16:28 of the first period.
Garrett Schifsky’s short-handed goal, followed by Cole McKinney’s score in the second period gave Michigan a lead the Nittany Lions wouldn’t be able to overcome. Michael Hage and T.J. Hughes closed out the scoring in the third period for the Wolverines.
Michigan is now 12-0 all-time as the two-seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
Jack Ivankovic had 27 saves in the win over Penn State. The Michigan goaltender is now 22-7-1 on the season with three shutouts. Ivankovic enters Saturday’s contest with a 2.11 goals against average and a .924 save percentage.
Ivankovic started the two games between the Buckeyes and Wolverines in Ann Arbor in November, saving 58 shots and allowing just three goals over the two-game series. Backup Stephen Peck started the two games in Columbus in late January.
If Ohio State wants to claim their first Big Ten Tournament title they’ll need to work hard to keep T.J. Hughes in check. In the four regular season matchups between the teams, Hughes scored five goals. For the season, Hughes is tied for the team lead with Michael Hage with 50 points.
The 19 goals by Hughes rank second on the team, with only the 23 goals scored by Will Horcoff bettering what Hughes has netted this season. Horcoff has 36 total points on the season, making him one of four Wolverines with at least 30 points this campaign. The fourth with more than 30 points is Jayden Perron.
Leading Ohio State in scoring this season is Jake Karabela, who has 36 points, four more than Davis Burnside. The 14 goals by Karabela ties him with Felix Caron for second on the team, one behind Max Montes. Overall, the Buckeyes have five players with at least 10 goals on the season.
Joining Montes, Karabela, and Caron as double-digit goal scorers are Burnside and Riley Thompson.
Likely to be in net for the Buckeyes is Kristoffer Eberly, who is coming off an outstanding performance against the Spartans. Eberly is 10-12-2 on the season with two shutouts. The starting goalie has a 3.24 goals against average and .890 save percentage.
Eberly might be finding his form at the right time, as he has allowed just three goals over the last two games. The junior will have to be just as sharp on Saturday against a Michigan team that has scored 162 goals this season.
