Marathon Men

Nov 14, 2016

by: Ken Oda, minotauroshockey.com

Playing their third game in as many nights the Minotauros fought through fatigue on Saturday night and won big in Aberdeen.  The game in Aberdeen ended a long three nights during which the Tauros opened a new arena on Thursday, had an almost hour long delay before Friday’s game due to ice conditions, and then had to bus to an away game.  The Tauros again however proved capable of overcoming adversity with a big win on the road.

In what is becoming a concerning trend the Tauros trailed after the first period, Joey Strada had the period’s lone tally.  On the flipside of that however the Tauros again used a huge second period however to erase the deficit.  Reid Stefanson tied the game just 25 seconds into the second when he fired a snap shot from the left circle on the rush.  Nate Pionk gave the Tauros the lead six minutes later when he found himself all alone in front of Wings goaltender Arttu Kulmala after a nice pass from Tyler Jeanson.  Pionk got his second of the night at one the power play with just over five minute left in the middle frame when he tucked a rebound past Kulmala.  Jeanson then capped off the big period for the Tauros in the final minute when he tipped a Jake Dittel pass past Kulmala to make it 4-1 Tauros.

The horn however did little to slow the Tauros momentum.  Stefanson scored just 11 seconds into the third to make it 5-1.  It was Stefanson’s fifth goal of the week and fourth that came in the opening minute of a period.  Alex Adams then picked up his team leading 12th goal of the season to make it 6-1 and 11 seconds later Stefanson completed the hat trick to make it 7-1.  With the hat trick and an assist on Saturday Stefanson brought his point total on the weekend to nine, on six goals and three assists.  The Wings would try to fight back getting three late goals but they did little to add drama to the affair.

Next up for the Tauros is another road swing.  It starts with a chance to avenge the loss from Thursday in Bismarck against the hated Bobcats on Friday night followed by a return to Aberdeen on Saturday.