|
Blaine, MN – The NAHL Showcase was a resounding success for the Minot Minotauros, who won all three of their games against non-divisional teams. The Tauros picked up all six possible points and came home to Minot in a five-way tie for first place in the Central entering the full slate of divisional play. Wednesday Recap – Elmira Aviators Minot’s first matchup came on Wednesday afternoon against the Elmira Aviators of the East Division, who entered the game 2-2-0. Elmira struck first in the opening three minutes, but Artyom Zhukov scored just three minutes later to make the score 1-1. In the 2nd, Elmira reclaimed the lead in the opening five minutes, but once again, Minot had the answer. Philip Wiklund blew the zone and caught a home run pass and scored a breakaway goal to tie the game again, 2-2. In the 3rd, Zach Palik found a soft spot in the slot on the power play and buried a one-time shot to give the Tauros their first lead of the game at 4:17 into the final period. Just four minutes later, though, the Aviators tied the game on a wrister from Timofei Korober. As the final minutes of regulation ticked down, a bouncing puck found Tauros captain Dane Ramirez in the far circle. He wobbled in a shot that went five-hole on the Elmira netminder to give Minot the lead with just 2:28 left in regulation. With 1:12 remaining, the Minotauros were called for a high-sticking penalty to put Elmira in a 6-on-4 situation with their goalie pulled in the final seconds of regulation. Thankfully for Minot, they controlled off a faceoff and Briggs Knott potted the empty-netter to secure a 5-3 Minot win over Elmira. Friday Recap – Danbury Hat Tricks After the off day on Thursday, the Minotauros geared up for a morning tilt with the Danbury Hat Tricks, who were coming off a 7-3 win the night before. The 1st period was fairly uneventful. Both sides didn’t really take advantage of possession or shots on goal, but the Minotauros got the first goal in the final two minutes of the period on a great follow-up from Ivan Sidorov. Patrick McCormick fired in a shot that came out on a big rebound, and Sidorov buried it on the back end. The 2nd period played out much like the first, but Danbury got the goal almost at the exact same timestamp as the Tauros. With just over a minute remaining, a spin-around feed from Aidan Stamm found Yuxiang He on the back door, and he fired it past Ryan Bodnar to make it 1-1. Bodnar was making his first start of the season between the pipes for Minot, and he had made some crucial saves to keep the score where it was heading into the 3rd. Lucca Ori took advantage of an early power play in the 3rd and got a feed from new Tauros forward Henning Reinprecht to put Minot up 2-1. Luca Kataja tipped in a shot right off an offensive zone faceoff midway through the period to give the Minotauros a big insurance goal. The defensive structure played well in the final eight minutes, and Lucca Ori got his second goal of the day, an empty netter with about three minutes left to ice the game. The Minotauros had the 4-1 win with one left in the showcase week. Ryan Bodnar finished his first start of the season with a win and stopped 19 of 20 shots. Saturday Recap – Amarillo Wranglers The Saturday morning game against the Amarillo Wranglers (South Division) was the first of its kind for the Minotauros in the young season. It was a showcase of incredible goaltending and a relentless attack from the Tauros. Amarillo goalie Adam Frank was sharp early on with the Minotauros outshooting the Wranglers 18-3. In the final five minutes of the first period, Joey Dellacroce spun around and fired a shot from the slot to finally beat Frank and give Minot a 1-0 lead. Despite being pinned back in their defensive zone most of the period, Amarillo got back with a puck that found its way to Truan Conrad, who was by himself in the low slot. His shot beat Lukas Hoglind and tied the game 1-1. The second period was once again dominated by Minot, however, Adam Frank continued to stand on his head and kept the game in a 1-1 tie going into the final period. Amarillo started the third period with a bit of offensive zone time, something they didn’t have over the first 40 minutes, but a handful of big saves from Hoglind kept the game tied. In the final two minutes, Michael Solominsky pinched up in the offensive zone, whirled around the back of the Amarillo net, and found Jax Warren sneaking into the slot. His quick wrister finally beat Frank on Minot’s 50th shot-on-goal of the game. With all the swarming, the Tauros finally got the lead they were looking for with just 1:46 left in regulation. Briggs Knott put in an empty netter to seal it away, giving Minot a grinding 3-1 win over Amarillo to sweep the NAHL Showcase. After going 4-1-0 away from home, the Minotauros will finally make their return to the Pepsi Rink at Maysa Arena for the Home Opener on Friday, October 2nd at 7:35pm CT against the St. Cloud Norsemen. Tickets are available on tickets.minotauroshockey.com or on the Tauros Hockey Mobile App.
|
