by: Ken Oda, minotauroshockey.com
Minot, ND – The Minotauros took both games in Brookings last weekend, and now face the Blizzard again, this time at home. The pair of wins carried the Tauros past the Blizzard in the standings and saw the Tauros post six goals on the weekend, their highest output since the home opening weekend in September.
The Tauros offense was sparked in part by a quartet of newcomers; Troy Degler, Jake Howie, Kyle Kruenegel, and Colton Kramer, combined for two goals and three assists. Cam Rowat netted his team leading fourth goal of the season and Beau Ricketts scored his first, to help the Tauros to the weekend sweep. In net Brandon Wildung made 34 saves on Friday for his second win of the year; on Saturday Merrick Madsen stopped 21 plus all four shootout attempts to match Wildungs win total. The Tauros power play was 0-for-9 last weekend, and appears the last aspect of the Tauros game that is slumping.
The Blizzard offense continues to come from the top, as all four of their goals last weekend came from one of their top five scorers. Nick DeCenzo, Eric Brenk, Conor Andrle, and Jared Goudreau all scored for the Blizzard and former Tauro Andrew Herlofsky added two assists. Just like the Tauros’ Marty Murray, Blizzard headman Cory Laylin gave each of his goaltenders a game; Drew Weigman made 31 saves and forced a shootout on Saturday, on Friday Austin Priebe allowed four goals on 33 shots.
In honor of the open of deer season in North Dakota, fans whom wear their blaze orange to the games will receive a $5 discount on admission. Both games start at 7:35 on Friday and Saturday nights. Tickets for both games are still available by clicking on the “tickets” tab atop this page.