Junior forward Cam Theising (15) skates after the puck during Ohio State’s 5-4 loss to Minnesota Dec. 8 at the Schottenstein Center. Credit: Aiden Ridgway | Lantern Photographer

The Ohio State men’s ice hockey team has struggled heavily in Big Ten play this season.

One important statistic might be the cause of the Ohio State men’s ice hockey team’s struggles in Big Ten plays this season. 

The Buckeyes’ penalty kill numbers last year were outstanding, ranked first in collegiate hockey at 88.7%. That was 5.2% better than the second-best unit in the Big Ten, Minnesota, which ranked No. 13 in the NCAA at 83.5%. 

The unit this year has been drastically worse.

Ohio State currently ranks 50th out of 60 teams nationally at 75.6%. So far, the team’s given up 20 power-play goals in 82 opposition attempts, which is already two more goals than the Buckeyes gave up last year with 10 more games to go. 

Only five teams in the NCAA have given up more goals than Ohio State. Head coach Steve Rohlik said he believes the drop can be associated with the shift in players on the team.

“Fifteen new guys, a whole new [defensive] core, a whole new goaltending core — there are a lot of pieces there that are different,” Rohlik said. “Sometimes you just have to get some confidence to get that going.”

Despite the new group, Rohlik said the Buckeyes have the pieces to get better on the penalty kill. 

“We have enough guys in here to get the job done,” Rohlik said. “We just need to go out there and continue to get better.”

Even so, there’s another key piece missing from last year’s squad. Luke Strand, assistant coach for the Buckeyes in 2022-2023, helped orchestrate the top-ranked penalty kill last season. Strand left Ohio State on April 10, 2023, to become head coach of Minnesota State, leading it to a 12-9-3 record in his first year. 

The Buckeyes’ penalty kill has given up seven goals in the seven games since returning from the mid-season break. They most recently gave up three goals in their weekend series against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Junior forward Caden Brown said he is optimistic that the Buckeyes can turn their penalty-killing woes around.

“The guys work really hard. We do a lot in practice, and we do a lot of video for the kill. I think everyone on our team are intelligent players,” Brown said. “Going through the week we are tweaking it to get ready for Penn State.”

Ohio State’s upcoming series can be an opportunity for the Buckeyes to get their penalty kill back on track. They head east to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions, who rank last in the Big Ten on the power play, only scoring on 19.1% of opportunities. 

The Buckeyes will be tested more after their road series against Penn State as they take on Michigan, who are first in power-play percentage at 36.6%. Two weeks later they take on Michigan State, who sits sixth in power plays at 27.1%. 

The two upcoming series will show how far the unit has come, as earlier this season the two teams combined for five power-play goals in the four games Ohio State played against them. 

Ohio State plays Penn State at 7 p.m., Friday, and 6 p.m. Saturday. Both games will be streamed live on Big Ten Plus.