In a largely defensive, uninspired affair, the #3 Denver Pioneers defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes 2-0 in front of less than 1,000 fans at Value City Arena.
The Pioneers struck first at 10:43 of the first period on a nice wraparound goal by senior captain Rhett Rahkshani. Rahkshani, a highly regarded player when he came to DU, has had a stellar career delivering big time goals for DU. His first goal of the season would prove to be the gamewinner for the Pioneers. Denver led 1-0 after one period of play despite being outshot 14-10 by Ohio State.
Rahkshani would later miss the net on a penalty shot at 2:37 of the second period, and at that point, you had to wonder if Ohio State could rally on that dramatic shift of momentum. However, junior netminder Marc Cheverie came up big for Denver stopping several decent OSU chances. In all, Cheverie made 14 saves in the first, 13 in the second and 9 in the third period in collecting his fifth career shutout.
Freshman Drew Shore would add an insurance marker in the form of an unassisted power play goal at 14:46 of the second period to give the Pioneers an insurmountable advantage. The goal was Shore's first of his career at DU.
The Buckeyes were scoreless on nine power-play chances in the game and now are 1-for-22 this season. Denver was 1-for-7. Ohio State's penalty kill is 17-for-19 on the year.
Denver and Ohio State will meet again tomorrow night at Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus. The Pioneers will look for the sweep while the Buckeyes will be looking for their elusive first victory of the 2009-10 season.
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nice post -- any guesses as to why OSU's power play is so ineffective?
ReplyDeleteTwo things come to mind immediately...
ReplyDelete1. The Schott Cave factor is in full effect. 1,000 people in a building that seats 17,000 is a joke. In my opinion, both teams were suffering from the lack of atmosphere in the building. No emotion from either squad.
2. They are simply not getting pucks to the net. Junior Kyle Reed was scratched tonight. He is one of the fastest skaters in the CCHA. And, the best Buckeyes, John Albert and Zac Dalpe were not their best players. They are not doing what it takes to score goals at the collegiate level. Markell said it best when he said the "got a goal their way" in the second Quinnipiac game. As Dean Wormer would say, "0-3 is no way to go through life, Son." Hopefully, they show some pride tomorrow night and come out with a sense of urgency to do whatever it takes to get a win.