By: Ken Oda, minotauroshockey.com
Minot, ND – The Minotauros rolled to victory on Tuesday night with a 4-0 victory over the Bismarck Bobcats. The win improved the Tauros’ record over the Bobcats to 6-2-2 on the season with two more meetings coming in Bismarck in a little over a week. Bismarck is a potential first round playoff opponent for the Tauros and a good showing on Tuesday night was a good confidence boost heading into the post season.
Nick Monfils (15g 14a) got the Tauros on the board at 7:38 of the first when beat Alex Bitsakis (15-12-2, 2.67 gaa, .907 sv%) from in tight. The Tauros kept the pressure on the Bobcats throughout the first two periods outshooting their instate rivals 32-15 and Bitsakis was forced to make several difficult save to hold the Tauros to just one goal until well into the second period. Colton Kramer (9g 10a) finally broke through for the Tauros though when he finished a great passing play with linemates Quinn Fuchs (3g 8a) and Nate Pionk (0g 1a).
With the games still close despite the Tauros drastic shot advantage the Tauros came out strong to put the game out of reach. James Mathias (12g 13a) and Chase Springman (13g 18a) scored just 2:50 apart early in the final period to put the Tauros ahead 4-0. From there Atte Tolvanen (26-12-5, 1.96gaa, .922 sv%) did the rest stopping 24 pucks in total to get his third shutout of the Bobcats on the year and his sixth on the season.
Tuesday night’s win kicks off a busy week for the Tauros with three more games on the slate in three different cities. Starting on Thursday the Tauros will play three nights in a row starting in Brookings and then heading to Aberdeen before returning to the Maysa for the final home game of the regular season on Saturday night. After Saturday’s game with the Aberdeen Wings the Tauros will be auctioning off their game worn road jerseys from this season. Tauros fans who win the bidding will receive the jersey after the Tauros season is completed. Tickets for Saturday’s game are available by clicking the “Tickets” tab atop this page.