Reusse: In a world where the Lions are winners, a search for normalcy leads, without satisfaction, to Gophers women’s hockey

There have been disturbances taking place in a sports world with which I’ve long been comfortable that are very difficult to accept. It has gotten to the point of wondering if Darren Daulton, the late, great catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, might have been onto something when he talked about humankind existing in a parallel universe.

It has been difficult to accept the notion the Detroit Lions, the Vikings’ greatest gift in 64 years of existence, actually might have staying power as an NFL contender.

When they broke out coach Dan Campbell and his over-the-top “we’re going to be tough” schtick, I was certain he would be another Lions sideline meteor who would flame out quickly.

The Lions made that run to the NFC title game last season. As their bandwagon got crowded for this season, I did some self-chuckling and thought: “This meltdown is going to be great.”

Now the Lions arrive at the Zygidome on Sunday afternoon, fresh from a 47-9 victory over the hapless Cowboys in Dallas, with a 4-1 record. And Detroit might actually have had a chance to knock the Vikings from their unbeaten pedestal had it not lost dynamic pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson to a gruesome leg injury that is career-threatening.

The Lions’ escape from ineptitude hasn’t been the largest shock to hit football where we live. That has occurred with Indiana, traditionally the co-favorite with Northwestern to be chosen as a homecoming opponent when appearing in the middle of a Big Ten team’s schedule.

The Hoosiers brought in coach Curt Cignetti from James Madison, where he spent five seasons as the Dukes made the transition from FCS power to FBS. Asked at his initial news conference how he planned to appeal to players at Indiana, he said: “It’s pretty simple. I win.”

And Saturday, Indiana defeated Nebraska 56-7 — once almighty Nebraska!

The Hoosiers are now 7-0 and have not trailed. The last time Indiana won a conference game by such a margin it was a 49-0 victory over the Gophers at our Memorial Stadium on Nov. 10, 1945.

I was three weeks old at the time, at least on whatever level of our universe this happens to be.

• • •

There was a need to find a non-confusing event to attend on Saturday. The winner was the Gophers vs. Wisconsin at Ridder Arena, the boutique citadel for women’s hockey opened on campus in 2002.

The loaded Badgers, were an unbeaten No. 1 in the ratings and had rolled to a 5-0 win in the series opener on Friday.

Yet, anything that happened in the Gophers’ favor on home ice wouldn’t be a shock; it wouldn’t be Vanderbilt beating Alabama, now would it?

There was a scoreless first period in which the Gophers had a slight edge in chances. Then came an explosion of goals: the first two from defender Sydney Morrow, followed by the first of the season for second-line center Madison Kaiser.

The Gophers were up 3-0 nine minutes into the second, and the several hundred fans — young and old — wearing Badgers red were very quiet.

This would not stand. Quickly, the Badgers were put on a power play and Laila Edwards scored her eighth goal in eight games.

The Gophers made it to the final second of the period with a 3-1 lead and then came an absurd penalty to put Wisconsin back on the power play to start the third.

Abbey Murphy, the Gophers’ senior star, was called for covering the puck with 0.4 seconds left on the clock. Murphy brings a high level of feistiness with her excellence, and there has been a suspicion in Gopherdom that the refs apply a more rigid standard when seeing that No. 18 jersey.

“Abbey was knocked down with a couple of seconds and was on the puck,” Gophers coach Brad Frost said. “The explanation I was given was that she was told to get up and she didn’t do it.”

Frost shrugged slightly at that verdict and said: “Four-10ths of a second.”

The high-powered Badgers came out on that gift power play and Lacey Eden scored her seventh goal 35 seconds into the third. The fans in red let out a cheer that carried a here-we-come message, and they were right.

Hannah Halverson, a freshman wing from Edina, tied it 3-3 at 4:42, and then Casey O’Brien’s seventh goal became the winner at 13:53. The shots were even at 29 for the contest, but not the result.

Wisconsin (8-0) 4, Gophers (4-3-1) 3.

“They’re loaded; been averaging 7½ goals a game,” Frost said. “I really like our team, though. We’re going to get better. We’re going to be OK.”

Final thought: “Hapless Cowboys.” That’s fun to say in any universe, isn’t it?