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Minnesota @ Ohio State: 3/7 & 3/8

Re: Minnesota @ Ohio State: 3/7 & 3/8

As per the boxscore, attendance was 3,753. Yes, it was a late arriving crowd. (duh) But in the end, I believe that most of that number actually made it through the turnstiles. As expected, it was a smaller crowd than either Penn State game last weekend. But considering the very difficult early start time, it's a satisfactory result.
 
Re: Minnesota @ Ohio State: 3/7 & 3/8

pgb-ohio said:
Wilcox is Wilcox again. On several difficult saves I'm still scratching my head as to how he prevented any rebound.
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One of the hallmarks of Wilcox's career has been save and no rebound...you just don't see a lot of second chance shot ops from him. I thought Frey played very well between the pipes. That glove save at point blank range on Warning was dope...he moves well and kept it close. I thought the Buckeyes were physical and controlled play in short stretches last night especially in their surge in the third period, but not with quite the edge I saw in the PSU series. But much of that was due to the nemesis Gopher cycling machine which was stellar last night for much of the game. When it's on it's fun to watch and it really opens up the zone. I can see OSU coming back with a close checking, strong forecheck game tonight to try and slow the Gophers down.
 
Re: Minnesota @ Ohio State: 3/7 & 3/8

Have the cameramen ever seen a hockey game before? Lost track of how many times they lost track of the puck last night. And in today's world, is it really difficult to show powerplay time on the TV?

Hope Gophs don't have the 2nd game let-down.
 
Re: Minnesota @ Ohio State: 3/7 & 3/8

This Gopher team has turned no corner this year. How on God's earth could they lose to OSU??????
 
Re: Minnesota @ Ohio State: 3/7 & 3/8

pgb-ohio said:
The Friday Penn State game drew 4153. The Saturday rematch attracted 6625. Not up the standards of the top college hockey hotbeds, but not awful in the context of college hockey as a whole... I'm hopeful the Saturday Minnesota crowd will match last Saturday's turnout. No inside info; just hoping.
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Attendance mission mostly accomplished on Saturday. Tonight's crowd was 6,177 -- essentially matching last Saturday night.

As for the game itself: To borrow Bob Seger's phrase, it was good for the soul. Knowing that most on thread are on the other side of the question, I'll keep this brief. Quick start/early lead was huge. Faced some adversity in the second period when the Gophers put on a good push. But got up off the mat to even the score, and eventually regain the lead. Honestly believe that 32-24 Shot Count and 5-2 Score were an accurate reflection of this particular game. If the Buckeyes could learn to score on breakaways, there wouldn't have been any need for empty-netters.

In my mind, the Gophers remain the favorite for the B1G crown. Best of luck against Penn State.
 
Re: Minnesota @ Ohio State: 3/7 & 3/8

Golden Tuuk said:
This Gopher team has turned no corner this year. How on God's earth could they lose to OSU??????
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The Buckeyes played a pretty darn good hockey game tonight. They kept the gophers to the outside most of the night and stayed out of the penalty box. Minnesota did hit 3 posts so the buckeyes got some help there. Good Luck next weekend against Penn State.
 
Re: Minnesota @ Ohio State: 3/7 & 3/8

pgb-ohio said:
If the Buckeyes could learn to score on breakaways, there wouldn't have been any need for empty-netters.
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Ohio State's players should have been more aware on how far up ice they were from the Gopher's trailing them.
They would have realized they would have had time for a deke move or two to help get by Wilcox. He's very good and trying to beat him without getting him to commit one side or the other is very difficult as they found out.
 
Re: Minnesota @ Ohio State: 3/7 & 3/8

Last night the Rumbus in Columbus on senior night was exactly the comeback game I expected from Rohlik and Co.: a strong dose of physicality, two man forecheck and a more determined net rush. Credit the Buckeyes with tightening up their game in the D zone and keeping Gopher shots on Frey outside and down.

For the Gophers their puck management in their zone tightened up after that horrible 1st period Gopher D breakdown in front of Wilcox on OSU's 1st goal, a rebound that rolled off Wilcox's back and in the net. The Gophers actually outblocked the #7 ranked shot blocking maniac Buckeyes, 14-12. Wilcox did his job and made some stellar saves giving the Gophers enough of a chance to win the game. But the story again for the Gophers, as it has been for stretches of this torturous, roller coaster season, was the offense just couldn't bury their chances.

I thought OSU's speed/intensity level and overall puck movement was better than on Friday, but IMO the Gophers still dominated play with zone time in front of Frey for significant stretches, but didn't get a lot of pucks on net and didn't capitalize on their key scoring opportunities. Both teams actually missed golden opportunities to put the game out of reach. Wilcox stonewalled 4 breakaways by the Buckeyes and multiple shots from the top of the circles; while the Gophers missed multiple scoring chances: 4 missed point blank shots in front = Ambroz/3, Boyd/1; and Kloos and Lettieri both hit pipes.

Although the loss dropped the Gophers to 14th they're far from out of contention to make the 16 team tournament field. With other conference tourneys underway there's lots of room for readjustments in the volatile 10-16 slots of the PWR in the coming weeks. But unfortunately going forward, with this loss the Gophers margin for error is at absolute ZERO for an at large bid. Go Gophers! :)
 
Re: Minnesota @ Ohio State: 3/7 & 3/8

OSU did play much better last night, but MN once again had a let-down in their play the second night.
 
Re: Minnesota @ Ohio State: 3/7 & 3/8

HarleyMC said:
Last night the Rumbus in Columbus on senior night was exactly the comeback game I expected from Rohlik and Co.: a strong dose of physicality, two man forecheck and a more determined net rush. Credit the Buckeyes with tightening up their game in the D zone and keeping Gopher shots on Frey outside and down...
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Good write-up, HarleyMC. Appreciate your work. Just one addition to the below paragraph:

...I thought OSU's speed/intensity level and overall puck movement was better than on Friday, but IMO the Gophers still dominated play with zone time in front of Frey for significant stretches, but didn't get a lot of pucks on net and didn't capitalize on their key scoring opportunities. Both teams actually missed golden opportunities to put the game out of reach. Wilcox stonewalled 4 breakaways by the Buckeyes and multiple shots from the top of the circles; while the Gophers missed multiple scoring chances: 4 missed point blank shots in front = Ambroz/3, Boyd/1; and Kloos and Lettieri both hit pipes.
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All true. I'd only add that the Buckeyes also dominated offensive zone time for significant stretches. Note that the Gophers were stuck on 1 SOG for much of the first period, and finished the stanza with 3. Obviously the Gophers were much stronger the rest of the way, but the Buckeyes still had their share of the good shifts.
 
Re: Minnesota @ Ohio State: 3/7 & 3/8

I would question did Minnesota play so hard Friday that they had considerably less gas in the tank for Saturday's game?
OSU had some fresher players out there filling the playing roster with all available seniors.
I would not take away from Minnesota's fine ability on the ice but they do seem most vulnerable when not playing on that ungodly large ice of theirs and can't spread their play out as much as they do at home.
 
Re: Minnesota @ Ohio State: 3/7 & 3/8

Congrats to tOSU for wanting it more in game two. Just a horrendously terrible hideous pathetic effort by the Gophers.
 
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