That was as encouraging as a loss can possibly be. They played as well as they did Friday night in the first game in Madison last year, but it was obvious that they played out of their minds and that they were going to be roadkill the next day. Beating OSU didn't feel that way at all. They seemed to be playing much more within themselves, under control and ready to jump on every mistake the Buckeyes made. It felt more sustainable, and I felt pretty good about their chances today.
Ohio State outplayed them for all but the first eight minutes of the third period, when the Gophers looked like they might steal a win. Then came one horrific minute. But they proved that they can be competitive even the day after making the #1 team in the country very angry.
They didn't play as well as they did on Friday, and took advantage of some bad goaltending, but the real explanation is a lot simpler than that. Joy Dunne is going to win the Kazmeier, and sometimes, the best player in the country decides to take over a game and there isn't anything you can do about it. Even if the Gophers had scrounged up another goal somewhere, I'm pretty sure she'd have gotten that back, too. The only solution to this problem is to do the work necessary to make sure that, next year, the best player in the country is on your roster.
Minnesota still lacks the top end talent to have the ceiling that Ohio State and Wisconsin do. But their depth is absurd, as witnessed by the fourth line getting them back into today's game by themselves. Their floor is as high as anyone's.