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Jan. 22, 2016
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- For the third straight Friday night, No. 14 Penn State men's hockey won in overtime as the Nittany Lions downed Ohio State, 3-2, Friday night at Value City Arena. Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) made 38 saves as Alec Marsh (Bridgewater, N.J.) provided the game-winning goal to complete the comeback.
Andrew Sturtz (Buffalo, N.Y.) scored a short-handed goal in the first period and Kevin Kerr's (Bensalem, Pa.) first collegiate goal was timely, tying the game with only 4:13 left in regulation.
Penn State (16-4-3, 6-1-0-0 Big Ten) won its third straight game and improved to 12-2-1 in the last 15 games dating back to Nov. 13. Ohio State (6-13-2, 1-4-2-1 Big Ten) took a 2-1 lead late in the second period before Penn State tied it late in the third.
Down 2-1 and the Nittany Lions pressing for the equalizer was created by Kerr, who kept an attempted Ohio State clear in the zone to Dylan Richard (Sherwood Park, Alberta). Richard's attempt on net hit off Eric Scheid's (Blaine, Minn.) skate and Kerr followed up down the slot and backhanded the puck home while being dragged to the ice with 4:13 remaining.
The equalizing goal by Kerr was the second-latest game-tying tally of the season for Penn State, just behind Richard's power-play tally at Niagara (Nov. 6) in a 1-1 draw with the Purple Eagles, which was scored with 3:01 left.
In overtime, Penn State's momentum carried over as PSU attempted three of the four shots in the extra frame. Marsh's hard forecheck during a line change kept the puck in Ohio State's zone and eventually the puck was cycled to Kerr on the left point. His slapshot hit Mason Jobst, hobbling the freshmen forward.
With a stricken Jobst on the ice, Marsh took a Scheid shot off the end boards, skated up from the goal line to the high slot and fired from just above the circles through traffic as the puck found its way past Christian Frey (37 saves) for his first game-winning goal.
Scheid ended up with two assists on the night for his fourth multi-point game in his last nine games, while Skoff improved to 7-2-3. Skoff was at his best in the second period with a game-high 16 saves. Skoff finished with a season-high 38 saves on the night, eclipsing the 36 he made in a 5-1 win vs. Clarkson (Dec. 29). Richard also picked up a two-assist game.
In the opening period, Sturtz bagged his 12th goal of the season and second short-handed marker with 9:22 remaining. David Thompson (Glen Mills, Pa.) took the puck deep in PSU's end and found Sturtz who broke it out and led a 3-on-1 to Frey's net, unleashing a wrister over his glove for the 1-0 lead and Penn State's NCAA-leading 10th short-handed goal.
On the same power play, Ohio State would capitalize only a minute after Sturtz's goal when Josh Healey put away a rebound from a Craig Dalrymple shot from the right point to even the score at one. Penn State owned a 15-10 edge in shots for the first 20 minutes.
The second frame mostly belonged to Ohio State, who held a dominant 17-9 advantage in shots and had two power play chances. Nick Schilkey broke the deadlock with only 1:23 remaining from the left wing for his 11th of the year.
Ohio State ended the game 1-for-5 on the power play, while Penn State went 0-for-3. Shots were even, 40-40, and OSU won the faceoff battle 45-33.
NITTANY NOTES
Penn State won its first game in Columbus in five tries (1-4-0) and snapped a three-game skid to Ohio State. Nittany Lions are now 4-7-0 against OSU.
Penn State won its first game this season after trailing or tied through 40 minutes of play. PSU was 0-4-3 in seven previous instances.
Penn State is unbeaten in a program-best five games on the road (3-0-2) this season. Away from Pegula Ice Arena, Penn State is 5-1-2.
The Nittany Lions launched 40 shots on target, the 16th time this season Penn State has tallied at least 40 shots. PSU has out-shot every opponent but one (Minnesota). Tonight's shots were 40-40.
Penn State held its opponent to two goals or less for the 13th time this season.
Penn State scored at least three goals for the 16th time this season to improve to 16-2-0 in such games.
Andrew Sturtz's 12 goals are the third most by a Penn State freshman behind only Casey Bailey (14, 2012-13) and David Glen (16, 2012-13).
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State and Ohio State conclude the series on Saturday inside Value City Arena at 7 p.m. Streaming coverage will be on BTN Plus ($). Penn State will have free streaming audio on GoPSUnow.