Gophers stumble in OT, fall 2-1 to Ohio State

Published Dec. 8, 2017 10:12 p.m. ET

The Minnesota Gophers' struggles on the road continued Friday night in Columbus, Ohio.

No. 7 Minnesota dropped to 2-6-1 away from 3M Arena at Mariucci, falling 2-1 in overtime to Big Ten rival Ohio State. It took the Gophers just over 56 minutes to solve Buckeyes goalie Sean Romero, who made 33 saves on the night.

Rem Pitlick scored the Gophers' only goal with just minutes remaining in the third period, netting his ninth of the season on a feed from Casey Mittelstadt. But the Buckeyes struck back in overtime, scoring on a rebound at 3:44 to deal Minnesota its fourth loss in its last five games.

The Buckeyes won the special teams battle, scoring a power play goal late in the first period and holding the Gophers scoreless on five power play opportunities. Minnesota outshot Ohio State 34-28, while Gophers goaltender Eric Schierhorn made 26 saves.

The two teams meet again Saturday at 7 p.m.