Recap: After Split, B1G Opener Vs. Penn State Looms

The preliminaries are over for now and the Big Ten season is here for Ohio State with a massive match-up against Penn State on tap at Value City Arena on Thursday and Friday  – 6:30 p.m. for each – as a prelude to the schools meeting in football on Saturday at Ohio Stadium.

There are many storylines beginning with the Buckeyes downing the Nittany Lions in overtime of the conference semifinal in March. However, while the Buckeyes would later bow out of the NCAA tournament in the first round, PSU – which was last in the Big Ten in December – continued its improbable run to reach its first Frozen Four.

Since then, the Nittany Lions have become must-see watching in hockey circles. With the new NCAA rule allowing Canadian junior players to play at American colleges, Penn State nabbed the biggest prize.

Forward Gavin McKenna is the 17-year-old whiz kid who is considered the surefire No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL draft. There have been five players in NCAA hockey history to be the top pick with Macklin Celebrini of Boston University the most recent to the San Jose Sharks in 2024, but none entered college as celebrated or with the credentials of McKenna.

Not only will he be a draw to VCA but Columbus fans will be interested to see PSU defenseman Jackson Smith, the Blue Jackets’ first-round pick (No.14) in 2025. He also took advantage of the new junior hockey eligibility.

“I’m excited to play against all these guys,” OSU defenseman Nathan McBrayer said. “Penn State, they have Gavin McKenna. I’m super excited to get on the ice and play against him. It’s definitely brings a whole lot more to college hockey and I think college hockey is getting a lot more respect too than in the past.”

It would seem the No. 14 Buckeyes (4-2-0) are the sideshow to the top-5 Nittany Lions (7-1-0) but McBrayer said the series is chance to showcase his team.

“We’re definitely going to get more people coming to watch those guys,” he said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for us to show what kind of team we have here and we’re a team that’s going to just work hard. So, I’m super excited to just get a bigger atmosphere, everything like that, and really show off our talent and everything that we have.”

 Net Result

Junior Kristoffer Eberly made 21 saves for his third career shutout when the Buckeyes defeated Sacred Heart of Atlantic Hockey 3-0 on Saturday to gain the series split after the Pioneers won 2-1 in overtime last Friday.

It was the last nonconference series until the Buckeyes play a home-and home with Bowling Green on Jan. 2 and 3.

Sacred Heart (3-2-0) took the opener after Nathan Lewis gave OSU the lead in the second period with a power-play goal before a crowd of 3,635. The Pioneers tied it with less than five minutes left in regulation and Felix Trudeau scored his second of the game just 23 seconds into OT.

The rematch was scoreless until the Buckeyes erupted for three goals in 10:02 of the second period starting with Davis Burnside followed by freshman Niall Crocker with his first goal and William Smith to the delight of 3,071 fans.

Eberly stopped 10 shots in the third and has a 1.67 goals-against average in starting all six games.

“We were more focused and worked a lot harder tonight,” OSU coach Steve Rohlik said. “We were more consistent. That’s a good hockey team over there. They work extremely hard and they don’t give you a lot of room. Our guys dug a little deeper and the penalty kill (5 for 5) was really good.”