By: Ken Oda, minotauroshockey.com
Austin, MN – The Minotauros went on the road knowing they would have to get at least two points to keep a share of first place. It was not always pretty but the Tauros did just that and will finish the month of November atop the Central.
Friday night’s game (full box) got off to a strange start with the game delayed 45 minutes due to a Zamboni malfunction the teams went a full hour between the end of warmups and puck drop. After a hole in the ice was patched the game finally got underway and the delay appeared to hurt the Tauros. Justin Misiak and Jade Miller scored at 1:30 and 2:15 of the first respectively to make it 2-0 Bruins before everyone had even taken a shift. Winnipeg Jets draft pick Marcus Karlstrom pushed the lead to 3-0 when he walked out of the corner and scored at 18:41 of the opening frame. Chase Springman broke the run with a power play goal for the Tauros with 31 seconds to play in the period. That would close out the scoring however as neither team could find the back of the net again. Despite the lack of scoring the game was not without action however as 107 penalty minutes were called on 29 infractions. The worst of which was Jan Stefka’s hit on Jake Dittel which ended both of their weekends; Dittel by injury and Stefka by suspension.
Saturday night (full box) saw the physical play carry over, though only 46 penalty minutes were whistled. Jack Murphy opened the scoring at 10:17 of the first when he finished a feed from Grayson Gavin on the rush to make it 1-0. Jake Gammicchia scored his first as a Tauro in the middle of the second to double the lead and it looked as though the Tauros would cruise to victory as they were outshooting Austin 19-9 at that point. The Bruins bounced back however getting a Jacob Paganelli goal late in the second and a Justin Misiak power play marker early in the third. The Tauros Derek Frentz however finished a feed from Gammicchia to restore the Tauros lead with 5:52 to play. The Bruins would get a power play with 2:10 remaining but Lucas Murray made every stop required and the Tauros won 3-2.
Next up for the Minotauros is rivalry week, a home-and-home series against the Bismarck Bobcats. The Tauros will head to the VFW on Friday before both clubs meet at the Maysa on Saturday night. Ticket for Saturday's game are available by clicking the "Tickets" tab atop this page.