Getting one of out of a possible three points only slightly eased the pain of a long winless streak that continued for the Ohio State with a 3-3 tie vs. Ferris State through regulation and overtime before losing the shootout 2-0 on Saturday before 4,026 fans in Value City Arena.
The No. 5 Buckeyes are officially 0-3-3 in their past six games but have picked up three points via the Central Collegiate Hockey Association rules that award two points to the winner of a shootout and one to the loser.
Unfortunately for OSU, they have lost three straight shootouts.
“Losing always stinks,” senior forward Danny Dries said. “With the shootout, it’s fun for the fans to watch but you have to take that aside and look at it as a tie in my opinion.”
It just feels like a loss for the slumping Buckeyes who still hold a two-point lead over Western Michigan and Miami atop the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.
“I’m not a big fan of (the shootout),” OSU coach Mark Osiecki said. “I wasn’t a fan of it when I played when we had it in the old IHL (International Hockey League) when it was a testing ground for the NHL.
“It stinks because you come away from a tough game – I understand trying to break a tie, I understand it’s great for the fans and it’s exciting – but for the players in the locker room it’s really difficult. It really is.”
The Buckeyes (14-7-4, 10-6-4-1 CCHA) can take solace in the fact they came back three times, finally forcing overtime when freshman Max McCormick converted a pass from rookie Tanner Fritz at 16:38 of the third.
“Give Ohio State credit, they played well, but boy, I’d like to find a way to get that thing solved without going to a shootout,” said Ferris State coach Bob Daniels, whose team beat OSU 4-3 on Friday. “We’re not going to get too greedy. We’re happy with taking five out of six points.
“Tonight they really came out hard. I thought we survived the first period. We took the first punch.”
The No. 13 Bulldogs (15-8-3, 9-6-2-1 CCHA) got a goal from Derek Graham in the first – the ninth time in the past 10 games that the Buckeyes have allowed the first score – before Fritz tied the game at 1.
Ferris State took a 2-1 lead 70 seconds into the third on a score by Kyle Bonis but a Dries short-handed tally nine minutes later leveled the score. Matthew Kirzinger made it 3-2 Ferris State at 13:09 before the McCormick equalizer at 16:38.
“I thought they responded really well,” Osiecki said. “We could never get the lead but we found ways to battle back. That’s more of our team right there.”
He still has confidence in his young team.
“I keep on emphasizing that we’re still trying to build a foundation,” he said. “You’ve got the numbers – look at how many freshmen and sophomores we have (18). Some of these games in the first half of the year went our way.”
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