OXFORD, Ohio - A pushing match between periods ended up being Miami's remedy for a lethargic start on Saturday.
No. 1 Miami scored four straight third-period goals to rally from a 2-0 deficit en route to beating Ohio State, 4-2 at Cady Arena.
After a scoreless first period, junior Hunter Bishop opened the scoring by beating sophomore Connor Knapp with 8:01 remaining in the middle stanza. That goal ended Miami's longest all-time shutout streak at 239:13.
Just over three minutes later, sophomore forward Zac Delpe's highlight-reel goal gave the Buckeyes a two-goal lead.
But at the end of the second period, Miami sophomore defenseman Chris Wideman shot the puck from his own blue line as the buzzer sounded, glancing off Dalpe. As the entire Ohio State team skated across the ice to its locker room, all of the Buckeyes and RedHawks came together at center ice.
Freshman forward Curtis McKenzie, junior forward Justin Vaive, senior Jarod Palmer and sophomore Will Weber were among the Miamians involved in the skirmish.
The latter three were assessed minor penalties for roughing after the whistle, as were three Buckeyes.
The incident seemed to rejuvenate Miami.
RedHawks freshman defenseman Steven Spinell netted his first career goal to cut the Ohio State lead to one just over seven minutes into the final period. Then junior center Andy Miele's blast from just inside the blue line found the net with 8:17 to play, tying the score at two.
The game appeared to be headed to overtime, but sophomore forward Alden Hirschfeld stole the puck while Ohio State (7-12-1) was carrying it through the neutral zone. Hirschfeld drove into the attack zone and hit Miele, who scored his second goal of the night to give Miami its first lead, 3-2 with 2:19 remaining.
Junior center Andy Miele scored the game-tying and game-winning goals for Miami on Saturday (Cathy White/CNATI.com).
Senior forward Jarod Palmer iced the game with an empty-net goal from nearly center ice with 27 seconds left. He finished with a game-high three points on a goal and two assists.
Hirschfeld finished with a career-best two assists. Knapp stopped 25 shots to pick up his third win of the season.
It was the first time this season Miami (13-2-5) has rallied from a multiple-goal deficit to win a game.
The RedHawks outscored Ohio State, 8-0 in the third period on the weekend series.
Miami has won four straight games and is unbeaten in its last five heading into Christmas break. Halfway through their conference schedule, the RedHawks have 34 points, tops in the CCHA by five over Michigan State.
The RedHawks don't play again until a non-conference game at Robert Morris on Jan. 8. Miami's next home game will be against RMU at 4:05 p.m. on Jan. 10.
BOTTOM LINE: The comeback made the game one of the most exciting of the season to watch, and it was great to see Miami respond from a two-goal deficit. Especially since the RedHawks may have forgotten that it's actually to fall behind in a game, since they hadn't allowed a goal since Nov. 28.
But Miami didn't play well the first two periods, and it's cliché, but once in a while the RedHawks seem to forget that every team is going to get up to play the top team in the country. And they should've known OSU would show up ready to play after the Buckeyes were demoralized in their own building the night before.
Miami is 13-2-5 overall, and 10-1-3 in the CCHA heading into the break. Outstanding first half.
GRADES
FORWARDS: B. Didn't play well the first two periods, scored three times in the final nine minutes to compensate. The corps generated 34 shots and accounted for four of Miami's six assists.
The Miele-Palmer combination was great in the third period, and Hirschfeld played one of his best games of the season.
DEFFENSEMEN: B. Spinell scored his first career goal, and sophomores Will Weber and Chris Wideman both recorded an assist.
Ohio State generated 27 shots, which is a few higher than Miami generally allows.
Weber had an outstanding defensive game, and Spinell continues to get better the more experience he's gotten.
Freshman defenseman Steven Spinell scored his first collegiate goal on Saturday to get Miami on the board (Cathy White/CNATI.com).
GOALTENDING: B. Knapp had little chance on the first goal, and Delpe scored because of an outstanding effort.
Knapp gave up a few too many juicy rebounds, but he stopped 25 of 27 shots and was spotless the final 24:54. Sometimes Knapp has been prone to losing focus after surrendering multiple goals in a period (and it's usually the second period), but he regrouped and shut the door when Miami needed him to.
LINEUP CHANGES: Coach Enrico Blasi went with the same 18-player lineup for the third straight game. The only change from Friday was Knapp in net instead of sophomore Cody Reichard.
That set of players carried Miami to two of its best games of the season, so he rightly decided not to change a thing.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Miami scored on the power play for the third straight game, going 1-for-3. The RedHawks are 7 of 14 on the man-advantage during that stretch.
Ohio State scored on 1 of 3 power-play chances, snapping Miami's three-game streak of perfect penalty killing. The RedHawks had killed all 21 chances on the man-advantage in that span.
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