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Weekend Recap 10/16-10/17 vs. St. Cloud Norsemen Another successful weekend at The Maysa is in the books, and the Minot Minotauros have added on to their historically great start to the season with a pair of wins over the St. Cloud Norsemen. The Tauros improved to 9-2-0, which is the best start through 11 games in franchise history. Friday Game Recap (10/16) Through the first two periods of play, goaltenders Lukas Hoglind and Axel Kylin stopped all 42 combined shots to set up a 3rd period with a 0-0 deadlock. Just two minutes into the period, though, Jax Warren lofted a shot from the blue line that Zach Palik tipped past Kylin for the first goal of the game on the power play. Four minutes later, Lucca Ori drove the net with speed and dished across to find Ivan Sidorov for an easy back door goal to make it 2-0 Tauros. Thomas Lahtinen created a goal for himself later in the period, picking the puck up from in front of the Minot goal and skating all the way down the ice before burying his third goal of the season, also on the power play. A minute later, Lucca Ori got a feed from Briggs Knott and one-timed it home to make it 4-0. The shutout score would hold as final, and the second shutout of the season for the Tauros went to Lukas Hoglind, who stymied all 23 St. Cloud shots on the way to a win. Despite the lack of scoring in the opening two periods, the Tauros showed, once again, how lethal they are in the 3rd period. Saturday Game Recap (10/17) Saturday began much like Friday with neither side scoring in the 1st period, save one detail. Halfway through a scoreless opening period, Mario Fate dropped the gloves with St. Cloud defenseman Graham Clafton, who had played a game with the Tauros last season. Fate and Clafton exchanged big right hands, but Fate got in one extra blow and came out on top in the first fight at The Maysa of the season, much to the enjoyment of the rowdy home crowd. Five minutes into the 2nd, St. Cloud got on the board with a power play goal from Matty Tardi on a quick passing play. For the first time in the season series, St. Cloud held a lead over Minot, and that lead would stand through the 2nd period with the score 1-0 Norsemen heading into the final frame. With the Tauros down a goal going into the final frame, the onus was on the Tauros to make Fate’s fight worth it, and the beneficiary of the tilt was none other than the tilter himself. On the power play just two minutes into the period, Fate tipped a fluttering puck past Carter Gardocki on the 35th shot on goal of the game for Minot to tie the game. Then, back on the power play two minutes later, Fate found open ice on the back door and one-timed a perfect feed from Volodymyr Naumenko to put the Tauros ahead 2-1. In short order, St. Cloud was awarded a power play on an alleged hooking penalty by Jax Warren that certainly could have been a holding penalty on St. Cloud. The Tauros got the short end of the call, and the Norsemen cashed in with a goal from Dante Rodriguez to knot the game 2-2. With six minutes remaining in regulation, Volodymyr Naumenko, back for just his second game from injury, picked up a puck in the neutral zone, slipped around a check, blew past two St. Cloud defensemen, drove the net, dangled past the netminder, and stuffed an unbelievable individual effort goal to put Minot on top 3-2 late in the game. As time ticked down, the Norsemen pulled their goalie with 40 seconds left and had a flurry of chances in front of the Minot net in an effort to tie the game. Briggs Knott prevented a wraparound tuck and Ryan Bodnar made multiple clutch saves in the dying seconds to kill off the clock and give the Tauros the 3-2 win and a weekend sweep of the St. Cloud Norsemen. The 9-2-0 Tauros are sticking around Minot this week ahead of a home series on October 23rd and 24th at 7:35pm against the Austin Bruins. Before Saturday’s game, join the Tauros for Trunk-or-Treat in the Maysa parking lot at 3:30pm before the game. Get your tickets today at tickets.minotauroshockey.com or on the Tauros Hockey Mobile App. Can’t make it to the game? Tune in on NAHL TV or listen live on our Facebook Live Audio Feed. |
