Ohio State Buckeyes 2021-2022 ... Destination: Happy Valley

[D2D]

Thank you for the kind words. Coming from someone who contributes so greatly to USCHO, they mean a lot.
Nice to see the WCHA league thread is making a comeback. May it live long & prosper. But my 3 Stars Posts have found a home and are staying put.

I've always enjoyed your 3 Stars posts, pgb, and look forward to reading your choices on all future Buckeyes games.

[Hockeybuckeye]

I think the odds are in OSU's favor for a split this weekend against Wisconsin with a sweep possible but they'd have to skate and play significantly harder than they have so far this season and basically play two flawless games and have more gas left in their tank than Wisconsin for game two.

[osualum86]

I think the odds are in OSU's favor for a split this weekend against Wisconsin with a sweep possible but they'd have to skate and play significantly harder than they have so far this season and basically play two flawless games and have more gas left in their tank than Wisconsin for game two.

I see a split. We have a great team and they have a great team. I don't think either team will allow the other one to sweep. I like our depth this season. No one is going to wear us down this year from a depth standpoint. This will be an interesting series to say the least! I will be streaming tomorrow and will be parked in front of the tv for Sunday's game.

[Hockeybuckeye]

Ohio State draws blood first!

[Offsides Guy]

My observations after the 1st: (1) it could easily be 3-1 WI but it’s not thanks to great OSO goaltending, (2) WI definitely has better individual players than OSU but OSU hangs tough as a team, (2) for now, WI’s forecheck is more “relentless” than OSU’s which I imagine Muzz will address loudly in the locker room!

[Hockeybuckeye]

Great, a puck luck goal off our own player for the Wisconsin equalizer!
SIgh, a goal is a goal.

[Hockeybuckeye]

I'm going to say the biggest advantage for Wisconsin in the 2nd was their control of the neutral zone. OSU just kept throwing the puck into it letting Wisconsin transition back to offense quickly.

[Offsides Guy]

I'm going to say the biggest advantage for Wisconsin in the 2nd was their control of the neutral zone. OSU just kept throwing the puck into it letting Wisconsin transition back to offense quickly.

I would say, just for today, OSU is getting outplayed by a wide margin. I’ll be interested to see if these first two periods are an anomaly for OSU, or if the rest of this game and tomorrow’s game show Wisconsin to be that much better than Ohio State.

[osualum86]

Wisconsin took game one of this series between #1 and #2 by a final score of 3-1 earlier today in Madison. The Buckeyes scored first on a goal by Gabby Rosenthal and went into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead. Wisconsin came back with two goals of their own from Grace Bowlby and Casey O'Brien to take a 2-1 lead into the second intermission. Neither team scored in the third period until Wisconsin was able to get an empty-netter with less than a minute to play to make the final score 3-1. The Badgers outshot Ohio State 37-28 with Badger backstop Kennedy Blair saving 27 of the 28 shots she faced to get the win. Ohio State netminder Andrea Braendli stopped 34 of the 36 shots she faced. The two teams are back at it tomorrow at 4:00 pm EST. This one will be on BIG Ten Network.

[osualum86]

Wisconsin completed the sweep today with a hard-fought 2-1 OT win in a game that could have gone either way as both teams had several grade-A chances to break the tie throughout the game. Wisconsin opened the scoring in the first period on a goal from Nicole LaMantia to take a 1-0 lead. Ohio State's Gabby Rosenthal got the equalizer later in the first period to knot things up at 1-1 as the teams headed into the first intermission. The score would stay that way for the final 40 minutes of regulation, so an extra period of 3-on-3 was needed. The Badgers' Nicole LaMantia was the hero as she scored her second goal of the game to win it for Wisconsin. Wisconsin outshot the Buckeyes 27-26 with Buckeye netminder Andrea Braendli stopping 25 of the 27 shots she faced. Wisconsin's Kennedy Blair stopped 25 of the 26 shots she faced to get the win. Ohio State will return home for a pair of games vs St. Cloud. Wisconsin will travel to Mankato for a couple of games against Minnesota State.

[Hockeybuckeye]

Well there's one thing that makes this weekend smart a little less, we're still #2 in the USCHO poll!

[Timothy A]

Well there's one thing that makes this weekend smart a little less, we're still #2 in the USCHO poll!

I would have ranked OSU an easy 2, MN vanquished 'Gate. Unless MN catches fire and OSU or UW has a bad loss, I don't see how UW and OSU don't ride the top for awhile.

[Hockeybuckeye]

I would have ranked OSU an easy 2, MN vanquished 'Gate. Unless MN catches fire and OSU or UW has a bad loss, I don't see how UW and OSU don't ride the top for awhile.

I've got my calendar cleared for our rematch in our old barn in February. If you ever get here TimothyA we'll have to get together. You may even get to meet the mysterious man behind the curtain, the ever insightful Mr.PGB.

[osualum86]

Well there's one thing that makes this weekend smart a little less, we're still #2 in the USCHO poll!

I think we proved that we belong in that spot. We didn't play particularly well Saturday, but we went toe-to-toe with Wisconsin yesterday and could have won that game.

[osualum86]

I would have ranked OSU an easy 2, MN vanquished 'Gate. Unless MN catches fire and OSU or UW has a bad loss, I don't see how UW and OSU don't ride the top for awhile.

Totally agree with this. Unless we stub our toe against someone we should beat, I think we stay in that #2 spot. Thankfully, I think we have learned our lesson about losing to teams we shouldn't lose to. In the 2018-19 season, we went 1-3 vs Bemidji and lost some other games we shouldn't have lost. We ended up missing out on the NCAA Tournament that season due to the bad losses.