Minot, ND – The Minotauros continue a home-heavy start to the season by hosting the Austin Bruins this weekend. The Tauros originally were scheduled to be playing in Minnesota against the Kenai River Brown Bears but Minnesota’s Covid restrictions forced changes to the NAHL schedule. As a result the Tauros get their first look at the division rival Bruins on the Pepsi Rink at Maysa Arena.
The Tauros come in off of a three point week going 1-1-1 against the Bismarck Bobcats. Cater Korpi lead the Tauros last weekend including two goals in Saturday’s win, the last of which was the game winner. Korpi’s big Saturday drew him even with Joseph Harguindeguy for the team lead with 10 points through 11 games. Cade Stibbe, who lead all returning Tauros against Austin last year with seven points, also got on the board last weekend with his first goal since returning to Minot from the USHL’s Fargo Force. Keenan Rancier remains the Tauros steadying force with a .928 SV% while posting several highlight reel saves like last week’s NAHL Top Play of the Week.
The Austin Bruins meanwhile come in as the latest victim of the Aberdeen Wings; overall the Bruins are off to a 3-3-1 start on the year. Peter Jacobs has six points in seven games to lead the Bruins who have just 18 goals in seven games. Their 2.57 goals-per-game ranks 19th in the league and comes on a 20th ranked 26.43 shots-per-contest. The Bruins battle well however as shown by their 3-1-1 record in one-goal games, while they are 0-2-0 in contests decided by more than one goal.
The Tauros currently have a five point lead on the Bismarck Bobcats for second place in the Central. The Cats host the Wings, so with a good showing the Tauros could pull away from the pack in the Central, but a poor one and the they could end up pulled back into the battle for the Cental’s final two playoff seeds.
Minotauros Attendance and Covid-19
The Minotauros will be limited to 600 fans due to the ND Smart Restart Large Gathering Tiered Capacity guidelines. That means attendance will be limited to only Season Ticket Holders and a small block of tickets for sale at tickets.minotauroshockey.com. Additionally, the Minotauros intend to comply with all other rules including mandated masks, social distancing in lines, and food/drink consumption limited to the seating area.
Watch and Listen
Minotauro fans who can not attend this weekend’s game can follow the action multiple ways. First, games can be watched live or on-demand through the NAHL’s streaming partner HockeyTV. Fans can get free audio streams online on the Tauros Facebook page or our new Mixlr Station, you can also download the Mixlr app and listen to our station on your smart phone.