Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

According to Brad in the pregame interview, she was out due to illness. Some bug going around the locker room?

Ok thanks, that would explain it...

[ne7minder]

Williamson gets the empty netter for a 3-0 win.
Very physical game but be clean. Buckeyes started very strong and dominated the first 10 minutes. Then it was back and forth for the rest of the period.. early in the second the Gophers took over and just wore OSU down. At the first break SOG was 10-10. Final was 48-18 and it looked like it.
Braendli kept OSU in the game and sdeserved a star.

It was highly entertaining
Williamson also got the first goal. Skaja the second.

[Still Eeyore]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

At the first break SOG was 10-10. Final was 48-18 and it looked like it.

Nine minutes into the second, it was 12-12. Minnesota took over from there, though there were some dicey moments in the Gopher defensive end.

Add the distance of the first two goals together and you don't get outside the crease. Tianna Gunderson had her best game as a Gopher, and created a nice chance that popped straight up in the air off of Brändli's save and landed in the crease. Williamson pretty much just skated into the net and brought the puck with her.

On the second goal, no Buckeye picked up Zumwinkle coming off the bench. She got her own rebound off a shot and pushed it through Brändli from behind the net, and Skaja poked it home.

I thought Minnesota's effort was lacking in the first period, but they really picked it up from there.

[D2D]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

Minnesota rolled all four lines for most of the game and that to me was a huge difference maker. Starting about the middle of the 2nd period you could see the Buckeyes begin to tire, and it was the Gophers jumping on the loose pucks and winning the possession battles in all three zones. Ohio State is very talented but it was the Gophers' depth that won it in the end.

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

Still no Taylor Wente...Was that mentioned on the audio pregame broadcast?

[Still Eeyore]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

Still no Taylor Wente...Was that mentioned on the audio pregame broadcast?

No Kippin Keller, either.

[D2D]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

Replays of the Gophers' first two goals:

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses...53864878465030

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses...67738474250240

[OldDave]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

Still no Taylor Wente...Was that mentioned on the audio pregame broadcast?

Not that I heard. Dan was the only one that mentioned the roster, and he was just pointing out that Gunderson would be taking a regular shift and Smith was the extra skater. I don't remember seeing Smith on the ice, however. Dan was more concerned about not being able to read names or numbers on those Darth Vader uniforms, although it sounded like he faked it well during the actual play.

[Nowheresville]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

So how did Ohio State manage to commit a penalty before the opening pick drop?

[Lindsay]

So how did Ohio State manage to commit a penalty before the opening pick drop?

Illegal uniforms, according to Nate Wells @gopherstate

[ne7minder]

So how did Ohio State manage to commit a penalty before the opening pick drop?

Illegal equipment. Their black sweaters violate WCHA rules that require numbers to be of a contrasting color

[Still Eeyore]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

This was a game you could look at in one of two ways. On the one hand, Minnesota outshot OSU by a large margin, and hit the pipe three times in a one goal loss. So, it was a game they could easily have won.

On the other hand, the passing was a sloppy reminder of last year. The power play looked comatose all weekend. And in general, the Gophers just weren't very sharp. They're going to have to play a lot better than this next weekend.

[D2D]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

This was a game you could look at in one of two ways. On the one hand, Minnesota outshot OSU by a large margin, and hit the pipe three times in a one goal loss. So, it was a game they could easily have won.

On the other hand, the passing was a sloppy reminder of last year. The power play looked comatose all weekend. And in general, the Gophers just weren't very sharp. They're going to have to play a lot better than this next weekend.

Yes, they were sloppy at times, but they generated plenty of great chances, more than enough to win the game. But shooting the puck was a big problem! Yes, they hit metal (squarely) three times, but on a dozen more they just missed, barely wide of the net. And on a dozen more than that they shot it right into Brandii's breadbasket, with corners wide open. No doubt she played amazing, but with all their miss-fires Minnesota made her look even better than that. The Gophers will need to take much better advantage of their opportunities next weekend, because they are not likely to get nearly as many.

That said, full credit to the Buckeyes on their tremendous effort today. It was obvious they were able to maintain a very high intensity level for all three periods, and one got the sense that they were doing everything possible to leave town with the win.

[Nowheresville]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

I thought about joking that those uniforms were so hideous they should be penalized, but the black on black numbers were my first guess what what the issue was. I don't know what is more surprising, that Ohio State didn't know that they were violating NCAA rules or that they only brought one jersey.

It was also surprising that there was a rent-a-band at the game. Hadn't seen that before at a regular season game.

As far as the actual game, it seems strange that they didn't even review the shot that caused someone to sound the goal horn in the 3rd period. I didn't think it went in, but it sure seemed close enough to take another look.

Looking forward to next weekend. It's a good October when you get to see games between two top 5 teams on 4 consecutive weeks.

[bluffrinkrat]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

I thought about joking that those uniforms were so hideous they should be penalized, but the black on black numbers were my first guess what what the issue was. I don't know what is more surprising, that Ohio State didn't know that they were violating NCAA rules or that they only brought one jersey.

It was also surprising that there was a rent-a-band at the game. Hadn't seen that before at a regular season game.

As far as the actual game, it seems strange that they didn't even review the shot that caused someone to sound the goal horn in the 3rd period. I didn't think it went in, but it sure seemed close enough to take another look.

Looking forward to next weekend. It's a good October when you get to see games between two top 5 teams on 4 consecutive weeks.

A former member of the Gopher band and I had the same thoughts as you did during Saturday's game. I also mentioned to him that I can never remember the Gopher's power play looking as anemic as it has so far this season. This has been very surprising. As far back as I can tell (to the 99/00 season) the Gophers have never had a year with a lower conversion percentage on the power play than their opponents. They are currently at .148 to their opponents .294. Here's hoping they can get their power play conversion rate over .30 where it belongs and soon.

My wife thought the uniforms looked intimidating as in multiple Darth Vaders swarming our Gopher goalie.