by: Ken Oda, minotauroshockey.com
The Tauros finally found some offense and took both games with the Blizzard this weekend, pulling themselves out of the division basement. The two wins came in part thanks to the efforts of the four new Tauros in the line-up. Troy Degler, Jake Howie, Colton Kramer, and Kyle Kruenegel, combined for two goals, three assists, and both shootout goals in the pair of wins.
On Friday night (full box) the Tauros used an offensive outburst in the second period to pull away from the Blizzard. The Tauros were trailing by one headed into the middle frame but it did not take long to draw even. 2:36 into the period Degler scored (clip) on a rebound to tie the game. Then just 18 seconds later Beau Ricketts netted his first of the season (clip) to give the Tauros a 2-1 lead. Midway through the period still leading by one the Tauros went to the kill. While the Blizzard would eventually score on the power play, Jake McCann beat them to the punch scoring short handed (clip) giving the Tauros a short-lived 3-1 lead. The Blizzard power play goal cut the lead to 3-2 but another newcomer Kruenegel scored (clip) on a shot from the top of the right circle to push the Tauros lead to 4-2. The Tauros offensive outburst lead to tempers flaring and Blizzard forward Jack Stang tried to spark his team by fighting Howie (clip), a fight that Howie won. The third period passed relatively uneventfully as Brandon Wildung made seven on his 34 saves in the final frame and the Tauros won 4-2.
In Saturday’s rematch (full box) also saw the Tauros score all of their goals in one period. After Brookings had scored in the first and again early in the third the Tauros found themselves trailing by a pair. Cam Rowat scored his team leading fourth goal of the season (clip) when he put back a rebound of Howie’s shot on the rush. The Tauros drew even when Michael Bigelbach scored from the point (clip) at 13:24 making it 2-2. The tied score would hold through the rest of the third and overtime sending the game into a shootout (clip). Degler and Kramer would score in the first and third rounds respectively and Merrick Madsen stopped all four Blizzard shoots to get the Tauros the win.
Next up the two team will see each other again this time at the Maysa Arena. Both Friday and Saturday’s games start at 7:35 p.m. Tickets are available now by clicking the “tickets” tab atop this page.