Blaine, MN – The Minot Minotauros fell to 1-2-0 at the NAHL Showcase after a hard fought battle against the Amarillo Wranglers. The loss was closer than the final score would indicate as the finally the teams spent 48:24 of the sixty minutes tied and the final Amarillo goal came into the Tauros empty net in the final minute.
For the third day in a row the Tauros opened the scoring, this time it was Weston Knox who scored with the Tauros shorthanded, Max Martin and Joe Westlund were credited with assists on the long shot from the blue line. Kyle DeMarco drew Amarillo even just 4:02 later when his shot deflected off of a Tauros defenseman and just trickled inside the post.
The 1-1 tie would hold through the entire second and most of the third until a defensive zone turnover allowed Ben Ivey to find Dominik Bartecko for a one-timer that beat Dane Couture with just 7:34 remaining. With Couture on the bench in the games final minute the Wranglers would tack on an empty netter to push the final to 3-1.
Next up for the Tauros in their final game of the Showcase against the Anchorage Wolverines at 2:45 on Saturday. The Wolverines are 1-1-1 with a loss to Amarillo on day one, a win over Maine on day two, and an overtime loss to St. Cloud on day three.
Due to connectivity issues at the National Sports Center Super Rink there will be no Facebook Live feed of the Tauros remaining games in Blaine. Free audio will continue to be available on the Tauros website under the “Listen Live” tab, on Mixlr, or in the Tauros Hockey App.