Come on Gopher fans! Let's get active here. Who watched the game? What can you tell us? I can only take so much from a box score. Share some thoughts and observations please!
I watched both games, and felt that I got my FloHockey money's worth on each. The announcer today was obviously very partisan, but I thought good overall, and mostly fair. The camera work was noticeably improved today compared to the opener, when he/she had some difficulty at times covering the action and following the puck, which at times left the viewer in the dark about what was going on. In today's rematch this was rarely an issue, and overall I would give today's broadcast very high marks for an away game this early in the season.
And IMO the Gophers' play followed the same pattern. Much improved overall compared to Friday, when they were mostly outplayed until the last half of the third period. A truly impressive comeback in the final stanza, when they kept battling and never gave up in the second half after spotting the Dogs a two goal lead.
In today's win I thought the Gophers, overall throughout the whole game, were more consistently good and perhaps deserved more on the offensive end. In particular the breakouts out of their own end were much improved over both their opening series against Ohio State and their first game against the Bulldogs. The Gophs were more effective in getting it out of their own end, using a variety of tactics, instead of routinely just shooting it up the boards or off the glass...actually making a play to open teammates instead of blindly clearing and hoping for the best. Maybe some of this improvement was allowed by their opponent, as compared to the stronger forecheck and pressure that we saw from Ohio State, and will likely see from Wisconsin?
One other brief comment: I thought the freshmen class acquitted themselves very well today, and showed that they are rapidly adjusting to the pace of D1 college hockey. Based on what I saw today, I believe this will continue as they gain experience.
One last question: Should the top line featuring Heise and Zumwinkle be broken up? Obviously both are extremely talented, and are great at carrying the puck, but could each be more effective with linemates who are adept at passing and setting them up for better opportunities?
