COLUMBUS, Ohio – Buckeye senior Corey Elkins had a team-best three points and three others had two points each as the Ohio State men’s hockey team opened the Ohio Hockey Classic with a 6-1 victory over Army Friday in Value City Arena. The Buckeyes advance to the championship game for the fourth-consecutive year and will take on Clarkson, who downed No. 2-ranked Miami in the early game, 4-2. Ohio State, which has won its last seven games and 10 of the last 11, will take on the Golden Knights at 8:05 p.m. Saturday in VCA, preceded by the consolation game between the RedHawks and Black Knights at 5:05 p.m.

Elkins had a goal and two assists for his second three-point game in the last three outings. Buckeye sophomore John Albert and freshman Ian Boots each had a goal and an assist, while sophomores C.J. Severyn and Shane Sims each had two assists. In all, 10 Buckeyes had a point in the game. The Buckeyes (12-6-1/6-5-1-1 CCHA) have scored more than six goals in three of their last four games.

Ohio State jumped out to a 3-0 lead just 8:15 into the game, with three goals in 2:50, and led 3-1 after the first period. Elkins opened the scoring at 5:25, putting in the rebound of a Corey Toy shot from the point. Boots had the second assist on the goal, which was Elkins’ sixth of the season. Junior Mathieu Picard scored for the Buckeyes 40 seconds later from the slot off a pass from C.J. Severyn, with sophomore Shane Sims also assisting. Boots added a goal of his own at 8:15, on a play with Elkins and Sims. Army got on the board at 14:23 when Scott Warner tallied on the rush, assisted by Will Ryan. The Buckeyes outshot the Black Knights in the period. There were no penalties called in the stanza.

The Buckeyes scored the only goal of the second period to lead, 4-1, after the middle stanza. Sophomore Hunter Bishop scored on a quick shot assisted by Elkins and Albert. The Buckeyes held the Black Knights scoreless on two power-play chances in the period, the only extra-man opportunities of the game. The teams combined for 25 shots in the period, with Army putting 13 shots on net.

The Buckeyes scored twice in 1:34 in the third for the 6-1 final. Zach Pelletier redirected a Severyn crossing pass at 9:20 for his third goal of the year. Albert, after taking a lead-out pass from sophomore Erick Belanger, beat an Army defenseman and deked the goalie for his sixth goal of the year. The Buckeyes outshot the Black Knights, 14-9, in the game. 

For the game, Ohio State outshot Army, 37-28. Buckeye sophomore goalie Dustin Carlson had 27 saves in all 60 minutes to improve to 10-3-1 on the year. Army’s Josh Kassel suffered the loss, making 24 saves and allowing five goals in 49:20. He was replaced by Joe Spracklen for the final 10:40, as he made seven stops on eight shots.

Postgame Notes
The Buckeyes are 6-1-2 all-time in Ohio Hockey Classic play. Ohio State and Miami had faced off in the championship game each of the last four years.

Bishop is on a six-game goal scoring streak and has seven points in his last six games combined. He is second on the team with eight goals this season.

Albert is on a seven-game scoring streak, with a 3-9-12 line, and has 10 points in his last five games combined.

Elkins, who now leads the team with 20 points, is on a four-game point streak (3-5-8). He has three three-point games in his career.

Elkins and Albert share the team assist lead with 13 each.

Pelletier is on a three-game scoring streak (2-1-3).

Boots has five points (2-3) in his last two games combined. He has at least one point in each of his last six games (4-6-10).

Severyn had his third two-point game in the last four games.

Sims is on a five-game point streak and has two assists in each of his last two games.

Postgame Quotes
John Markell, Ohio State head coach
On the crowd
“We scored on our opportunities tonight. First, I want to thank our advertisers, the Columbus Dispatch and marketing for putting as many people as they did in the building. I was happy to see many people for the Clarkson vs. Miami game. They got to see a good game. They did a good job getting people here and we fed off of that. Glad to see the crowd and we know what this building can look like.”

On the game
“We wanted to take advantage of them since they were fresh to the building. It was the first time for them playing here. They carried the game for the first two minutes and gave us enough on tape to improve.”

On Ohio State’s performance
“We had great back checks. Dustin (Carlson) didn’t get rattled after their goal. He settled down and made good saves. I thought we had a solid game. I was disappointed that we didn’t have a power play because that is what we worked on all week. We just need to keep moving forward. The guys did a good job. Now, we just need to take care of our bodies for tomorrow night’s game.”

On playing Clarkson
 “Tomorrow night will be an interesting match-up. Both goalies want to back up their performances from tonight. We will need to play better tomorrow and we can.”

C.J. Severyn, Ohio State sophomore forward
On his performance and growing confidence
“Game-by-game, practice-by-practice, I feel more confident in my game. Tonight I just kept it simple, attacked the net and let my teammates help me out.  I was pleased with my performance.”

On the team’s goal distribution
“It is nice to see guys come off the bench and contribute. It seems like every game we have different guys scoring. It helps keep our offense balanced.”

Corey Elkins, Ohio State senior forward
On the quick start
“We knew we would have to be sharp right off the bat because Army is a tough team. We did a good job of getting to the net and getting rebounds.”

On the Miami-Clarkson game
“We new the Clarkson was a good team. We will have to come out ready if we want to win tomorrow.”

On the game after the first period
“It is tough to stick to the little things after you get out to a quick lead. We stopped going after checks and lost some of our aggressiveness. But we picked up our game again near the end. I thought we played hard overall.”

Brian Riley, Army head coach
On the game
“We talked before the game about how important the first five minutes were on the road. We did pretty well and were into it. In the next three-and-a-half minutes, we were down three. Our plan had been to make it a twenty minute game but we weren’t able to do it.”

On Dustin Carlson (Ohio State sophomore goalie)
“He made all the saves he had to make. Early in the game, one of our best forwards was in all alone and Carlson made a save there. He didn’t give us a lot of chances.”

Hockey Game Box Score (Final)
Ohio State Men's Hockey 2008-09
Army vs Ohio State (Jan 02, 2009 at Columbus, Ohio)

 Army (4-12-1/4-7-1 AHA) vs. Ohio State (12-6-1/6-5-1 CCHA)
 Date: Jan 02, 2009  Location: Columbus, Ohio        Arena: Value City Arena   
 Attendance:4846   Start time:8:17 pm   End time:10:15 pm  Total time:1:58   

 Goals by Period 1 2 3 Total
 Army 1 0 0 1
 Ohio State 3 1 2 6
 
   1st period - 1, OSU, Corey Elkins/7 (Corey Toy/4, Ian Boots/10)
5:25. 2, OSU, Mathieu Picard/3 (C.J. Severyn/2, Shane Sims/8) 6:05. 3,
OSU, Ian Boots/6 (Corey Elkins/12, Shane Sims/9) 8:15. 4, ARMY,
Warner, Scott/4 (Ryan, Will/2, McRae, Alex/1) 14:23. Penalties -

   2nd period - 5, OSU, Hunter Bishop/8 (Corey Elkins/13, John
Albert/13) 3:05. Penalties - Corey Toy, OSU (hooking) :28; Erick
Belanger, OSU (cth elbowing) 6:26.

   3rd period - 6, OSU, Zach Pelletier/3 (C.J. Severyn/3) 9:20. 7,
OSU, John Albert/6 (Erick Belanger/4) 10:54. Penalties - Matt
Bartkowski, OSU (roughing atw) 19:08; Spracklen, Chris, ARMY (roughing
atw) 19:08; Corey Toy, OSU (roughing atw) 19:08; Hickey, Matt, ARMY
(roughing atw) 19:08.

   Shots on goal - ARMY 6-13-9 28; OSU 11-12-14 37.

   Power plays - ARMY 0 of 2; OSU 0 of 0.

   Penalties - ARMY 2 (4 min); OSU 4 (8 min).

   Goalies - ARMY, Spracklen, Joe (10:40 minutes, 8 shots-7 saves) ,
Kassel, Josh 2-8-0 (49:20, 29-24); OSU, Dustin Carlson 10-3-0 (60:00,
28-27).

   Penalty shots - None.

 A-4846  T-1:58   
 Three stars: 1. None    2. None    3. None   
 Ref: Stephen McInchak; Dean Sanborn   Line: Brian Frerichs; Patrick Bracco
 Win-Dustin Carlson (10-3-0).  Loss-Kassel, Josh (2-8-0). 
 Ohio Hockey Classic Round One                    
 **Army Timeout at 10:40 of 3rd Period