Ohio State’s Tyler Lundey has made himself right at home at the Kohl Center, which makes sense considering it is, in fact, close to home.
Lundey scored for the third straight game at Wisconsin, near his suburban Madison hometown of Middleton, in Ohio State’s 2-0 victory over the Badgers on Friday.
He didn’t try to hide how good it felt to have more success on the Kohl Center ice in front of family and friends.
“Growing up around here, this is the highest level of hockey I watched,” Lundey said. “It’s awesome being on the ice and not in the stands. It’s something special.”
Christian Frey made 26 saves and got some help from his teammates to keep a pair of Badgers’ shots out of the net in recording his second straight shutout after going his first 46 collegiate starts without one.
Since returning from a 23-day holiday break, the Buckeyes (6-11, 1-2 Big Ten) have equaled their first-half win total of three by beating top-10 teams Boston College and Cornell in Florida and then earning their first true road victory of the season on Friday.
“It’s like a new start,” Lundey said. “We had some meetings before all the guys went home. If you showed up on Christmas at Columbus or on the 26th down in Florida, you’d better be ready to go.”
Ohio State’s David Gust broke a scoreless tie with 11:07 remaining in the third period, slamming a pass from John Wiitala past Badgers goaltender Matt Jurusik (19 saves).
Lundey doubled the lead with 4:01 remaining, firing through Jurusik’s pads on a two-on-one break up the right side.
A senior, Lundey has five goals in 10 career games against the Badgers, three of which have come in his last three games at the Kohl Center. He scored a goal in each game of a series last March in which the Buckeyes earned a shootout win and a regulation win.
It was also Lundey’s third straight game with a goal — he scored in each win at the Florida College Hockey Classic.
“What Lundey does is what you want everybody to do,” Buckeyes coach Steve Rohlik said. “He comes every day, gives you everything he’s got. He’s as honest as they come. I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Wisconsin (4-8-5, 1-3-1-0), playing its first meaningful game in 27 days, nearly turned a higher level of pressure in the second period into a goal twice in less than two minutes.
Seamus Malone directed a pass toward an open Kevin Schulze at the back post, but Buckeyes winger Kevin Miller got his stick in the way just in time to knock the puck wide of the goal.
Frey then saw Will Johnson’s shot go off his pads and over his head, crawling onto the goal line before defenseman Drew Brevig cleared it away. Video review confirmed the no-goal call.
“Sometimes the hockey gods just don’t want you to win, I guess,” Schulze said.
Frey blanked Cornell in the Buckeyes’ 8-0 victory in the Florida College Hockey Classic championship game en route to being named the Big Ten and NCAA first star of the week. He continued his strong play Friday.
“A goaltender can make you look pretty good, can’t he?” Rohlik said.
Ohio State, which was 0-8 in road games before Friday, dressed one player fewer than the maximum allowed, leaving five healthy scratches in what Rohlik called a coach’s decision.
Still, with only three centers dressed, the Buckeyes were effective in disrupting passes in the Badgers’ defensive zone, forcing some turnovers and generally making like tough for Wisconsin’s breakout.
“The best thing you have in your hand is your stick,” Rohlik said. “Keep it on the ice (and) you can disrupt a lot of plays. … They want to go through the seams, and if you can make some of those and have some turnovers — we had some of those. You’ve got to capitalize, and we ended up doing that toward the end.”
