The Minotauros kept possession of the Subway ND Cup with another extra-time win against the instate rival Bismarck Bobcats on Saturday night. The Tauros have won the Subway Cup presented to the winner of the Tauros/Bobcats season series in each of the first three seasons of its existence, over that time the Tauros are 20-13-3 against the Bobcats.
After a wide open first period, that saw the teams combine for 31 shots but no goals thanks to strong play from the Tauros’ Nicholas Grabko and the Bobcats’ John Roberts in net; Fritz Belisle opened the scoring early in the second with a power play goal giving the Tauros a 1-0 lead. It appeared Grabko would make that goal stand up as the game winner as he was locked in stopping the first 36 shots he saw but with 2:40 to play Tim Piechowski scored to even the game and force overtime.
With less than a minute to play in the extra session the Tauros Didrik Henbrant entered the Bobcat zone and drove the net, Roberts made the save but Wilmer Skoog found the rebound. Skoog then worked a give-and-go play with Levi Kleiboer moving the puck to the right side before Kleiboer passed back to Henbrant alone on the left side of the net for a tap in goal.
The win not only earned the Tauros the Subway ND Cup but also extended the Tauros lead on the Austin Bruins to three points for home ice advantage in the opening round of the Robertson Cup Playoffs. The Bobcats sit just four points behind the Tauros in the fourth and final playoff spot in the Central Division.
Next up for the Tauros is four in a row with the first place Aberdeen Wings. The Tauros have a winning record against every team in the Central with the exception of their 3-5-0 record against Wings; the Tauros would have to go no worse than 3-0-1 of the next four games against the Wings to finish the season with a winning record against every Central Division opponent. The run of four games starts with the Wings coming to the Maysa Arena this weekend for games on Friday and Saturday night, both starting at 7:35. Tickets for the weekend’s games are available through the “Tickets” tab atop this page.