By Jacob Messing

Ohio State is fresh off a win against their dreaded rival, Michigan. And we’re not talking about football.

The Buckeyes have climbed in the rankings from No. 17 to No. 11 with a win and tie with Connecticut and last weekend’s sweep of the No. 17-ranked Wolverines.

Although the Nittany Lions have dropped in the rankings the last month, they’ve established themselves once again over the last two weeks. Penn State, 8-7-1, watched their rank drop five times this season, including spending the last two weeks on the outside of the top 25. But a sweep of Arizona State followed by a win and tie with Michigan State could see the Nittany Lions resurrect their season.

The series will be streamed right here on FloHockey, with game one scheduled for Friday at 7 PM EST and game two on Saturday at 4 PM.

Buckeyes are heading home from Ann Arbor with two B1G wins after a 3-2 victory last night and 5-1 win tonight. #GoBucks #sweep pic.twitter.com/uUYqlmtUpD

— Ohio State M Hockey (@OhioState_MHKY) November 26, 2017

The Buckeyes haven’t played great hockey at home this season, with a 1-2-2 record at Value City Arena, but with a 4-4-0 visiting record the Nittany Lions don’t show a lot of promise on paper.

The series will be a clash of strengths. The Buckeyes allow an average of just 1.93 goals against, second to only Clarkson’s 1.44 GAA among all Division I teams, while the Nittany Lions lead all DI teams with 61 goals on the season (3.81 goals per game).

OSU senior Sean Romeo, who sat out the entire 2016-17 season after transferring from the University of Maine, has been a force in the crease.

“I’ve said this to everyone I’ve talked to, his focus, his preparation, his detail, what he does every day is amazing,” Buckeyes coach Steve Rohlik told Wyatt Crosher of The Lantern. “I’ve never seen a guy that comes to the rink every day and goes through his routine like Sean does.”

Romeo is 7-3-3 through 13 starts and his 1.69 GAA and .931 save percentage are both good enough for top 10 in the NCAA. Mix in OSU leading scorer Tanner Laczynski and Penn State will have its hands full.

Congrats to Tanner Laczynski, the @B1GHockey Second Star of the Week!

The sophomore had 4 points in the Buckeyes' road sweep of the Wolverines. #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/dKc3nHcpzE

— Ohio State M Hockey (@OhioState_MHKY) November 28, 2017

Laczynski was named Big Ten Second Star of the Week with four points in the sweep of Michigan, and is now riding a five-game point streak with two goals and eight points in that span.

The Nittany Lions have surrendered 51 goals in 16 games (3.19 GA/gm), the fifth-highest total in the NCAA, as goaltenders Peyton Jones and Chris Funkey both sport save percentages lower than .900 on the season.

But sometimes a team can simply outscore its problems, which is what has helped the Penn State float a game above the .500 mark.

The Nittany Lions have a deep group of forwards who can put the puck in the net with seven double-digit scorers and junior Andrew Sturtz, who sits seventh in NCAA scoring.

Coach Guy Gadowsky also welcomes back Denis Smirnov, who has missed the past eight games with an undisclosed injury. Smirnov, who led all freshmen last season with 47 points in 39 games, had five goals and 11 points in eight games before the injury.

Sturtz exploded with four goals and 12 points in Smirnov’s absence, helping Penn State weather the storm with a 4-3-1 record.

Gadowsky also got Kevin Kerr back in the lineup last weekend after a 12-game absence. The junior defenseman posted three assists in the Michigan State series and now has five assists in four games as one of the Penn State’s best offensive defensemen.

“[Kerr is] just such a smart player, I mean just vision-wise he sees everything, there’s no guesswork to what he does, he’s fun to watch,” Gadowsky said in his weekly check-in.

Don’t miss Kerr, Romeo, and the rest this week weekend as FloHockey will stream the series live right here.

Have a question or a comment for Jacob Messing? You can find him on Twitter @JMessing23.