scoring by period 1 2 3 final No. 11 Ohio State 2 1 3 6 No. 1 Penn State 1 2 0 3

No. 11 Ohio State men’s hockey wrapped up its season series with No. 1/2 Penn State on Saturday. The match up was a crucial one. Both teams are projected to be in the mix for the Big Ten title so the winner of the season series will hold an important advantage as the year winds down. The first tiebreaker in the B1G is wins. The next is head-to-head winning percentage.

That edge now belongs to the Bucks. The Scarlet and Gray scored three unanswered goals in the third period tonight to secure a 6-3 victory and a 2-1-1-1 season advantage over PSU. Here’s how it went down.

buckeye goal scorers (assists) pd time John Wiitala (unassisted) 1 11:50 PP - Mason Jobst (Dakota Joshua, Dave Gust) 1 18:20 Dakota Joshua (unassisted) 2 0:18 Matt Weis (Mason Jobst, Miguel Fidler) 3 0:38 Luke Stork (Dave Gust) 3 1:41 Christian Lampasso (Luke Stork, Kevin Miller) 3 17:10

Like last night’s contest, the Nittany Lions took an early lead. David Thompson beat Buckeye goalie Christian Frey a little over two minutes into the game. Unlike last night's contest, Ohio State reeled off the next three scores to surge ahead 3-1.

A solo effort by John Wiitala evened the score midway through the first period. The Bucks’ hot power play trio - Mason Jobst, Dave Gust, and Dakota Joshua - hooked up for a second man-advantage goal in as many games. Joshua kicked the second period off with a quick strike just 18 seconds after the puck dropped.

Wiitala put Ohio State on the board with his eighth goal of the year. https://t.co/PKMPSMxHTP #GoBucks — Ohio State M Hockey (@OhioState_MHKY) January 22, 2017

The Nittany Lions rallied, scoring the next two goals and knotting the score at 3-3 heading into the third period. But the Buckeyes would not be denied. Matt Weis and Luke Stork blitzed Penn State with two tallies in the first 1:41 of the frame. Christian Lampasso delivered the final dagger with his first goal of the season.

Jobst scored his 10th goal of the year in the first period. https://t.co/CGvInSrpYp #GoBucks — Ohio State M Hockey (@OhioState_MHKY) January 22, 2017

Ohio State won the special teams battle as well. The Buckeyes went 1-for-2 on the power play while holding Penn State scoreless in two man-advantage attempts, including a full five minute major. Frey stopped 41 shots to pick up his sixth win of the year.

The Bucks improve to 3-2-1-1 in the Big Ten and 12-4-6 overall. Next up for the Bucks is a Thursday-Saturday series with Wisconsin. The finale of that one will be played in Madison Square Garden as part of the B1G's Super Saturday. It will air live on BTN at 7pm ET.