Opponent: #13/14 Ferris State Bulldogs
Where: Value City Arena; Columbus, OH - Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m.
After an surprisingly hot start in 2011, the first month of 2012 has not been particularly kind to the Ohio State Buckeyes. They've yet to get their first win of the year; they lost two shootouts at Bowling Green, and last weekend they were handled by the Michigan Wolverines both at home and in the Frozen Diamond Face-off in Cleveland. The Buckeyes scored just one goal on the weekend, and over the course of both games they were outscored 8-1. As a result, they have fallen in the polls to number 5 in the nation. Now that the outdoor game and the Michigan series is over, the Buckeyes now can worry about getting back to the game they were playing in the fall. It doesn't get any easier going forward. The #13/14 Ferris State Bulldogs are the next team coming into town, and they will provide their own set of challenges.
The good news for Ohio State is that they no longer have to face Michigan goaltender Shawn Hunwick, who put together two dominant games for the Wolverines last weekend. The bad news is that the Bulldogs' goaltender isn't so bad either; Taylor Nelson comes into the series with a 2.20 goals against average. The backup C.J. Motte also has a great goals against average of 1.99. Scoring draughts are always tough to come out of, and it's not going to get any easier at home this weekend.
However, if the Buckeyes want to remain at the top of the CCHA they'll need to take advantage of this series. After these two games, they only have three home games remaining. (2 against Michigan State and 1 against Miami.) Besides that, they will have to deal with road trips to Lake Superior State, Western Michigan, and one game in Miami. The Buckeyes' great start has set them up so that they don't need to play lights-out in order to stay at the top of the standings, but you also don't want to go into the CCHA tournament on a cold streak. These past few games have been a step backward, but there's still plenty of time to make sure it doesn't become a trend.
One thing that's a bit troubling for the Buckeyes is the slight shakiness of Cal Heeter, who hasn't looked as sharp over the past couple of games. It even got to the point where backup Brady Hjelle came in during the Frozen Diamond Face-off. He's still made his fair share of saves, but in both Michigan games there were a couple goals that were slightly concerning. Heeter has more than earned the starting job going forward, but it will be interesting to see if Coach Osiecki ever brings in Hjelle to try and give Heeter some rest. With the way the Buckeye offense has performed of late, this team will need all the saves they can get.
This is a crucial series for the Buckeyes. The cushion they once had is starting to dwindle away, and the sooner they can get a W on the board the better and more confident they will be going forward.
Weekend prediction: The Buckeyes split the series and end the winless streak.
Friday's game can be heard on OhioStateSports.net. Saturday's game will be streaming live at BTN.com.
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