Bismarck, ND – The Minotauros went roaring into the 20s by crashing the Bismarck Bobcats New Year’s Eve party with a 4-2 win. The Tauros never trailed and Ben Garrity stopped 28 of 30 shots in the much needed win to close out the decade and keep the Tauros within striking distance of the Cats for second place in the Central Division.
Kyler Kleven opened the scoring midway through the first period on a two-on-two rush up ice he made a move to beat the defender wide and then shot to the far side of the net to beat Ryan Ullan. Hunter Olson drew the Cats back even late in the period when he found a loose puck on a net-mouth scramble and slid it past Garrity.
The 1-1 stalemate held through the rest of the first and the entire second period. Dan Russell finally broke the draw with a goal 2:25 into the third. The goal gave the Tauros a 2-1 lead, it was the third game in a row that the Tauros held a third period lead on the Cats, unlike the other two however they continued to pull away from the Cats. Former Bobcat Kevin Ness added a power play goal with just under eight minutes to play finishing a nice cross-ice feed from Kleven with a one-timer. Then Nik Armstrong-Kingkade added an empty netter with 45 seconds left to give the Tauros a 4-1 lead. It appeared that the Tauros would win 4-1, which was the final score in their other NYE wins in Bismarck back in 2014 and 2016, but with just 16 seconds remaining and the outcome already decided Olson would add his second of the night to make the final 4-2.
Next up for the Tauros is a five game homestand starting Friday and Saturday nights against the St. Cloud Blizzard. Friday night the first 800 fans that bring two non-perishable food items or a $10 donation for the Great Plaines Food Bank will receive a Tauros jersey compliments of Farmers Union Insurance.