Minot, ND – As has become tradition the Minotauros are playing at home on Thanksgiving weekend, this year hosting the St. Cloud Blizzard. The Tauros come in riding a five-game winning streak after Wednesday night’s 6-3 win over the Bismarck Bobcats. The Blizzard meanwhile broke an eight-game skid with 2-1 win over the Bobcats last Saturday.
The Tauros offense comes in ranked third in the league scoring 3.80 goals-per-game thanks to the second-best shooting percentage in the league. With 76 goals on just 598 shots the Tauros are converting on 12.71% of their shot attempts. Nik Armstrong-Kingkade (13g 9a) who had a hat trick Wednesday night has paced the offense all season including five goals and two assists against the Blizzard this year. Cade Stibbe (4g 8a) also seven points against the Blizzard this year on two goals and five helpers. Defensively Sam Skinner (3g 9a) has a team-best +13 rating, Brennan Couet (1g 7a) is second with a +8.
Former Tauro Ryan Green (7g 5a) leads the Blizzard offense with 7 goals this season. Jack Suchy (4g 12a) leads the team overall with 16 points. Ryan O’Neil (6g 9a) is second on the team with 15 points and has led the St. Cloud offense against the Tauros with two goals and two assists. The Blizzard rank 19th in offense, but are dead last defensively allowing 4.24 goals-per-game. To try to rectify that the Blizzard have brought it in Tyler Bost who started the season in Topeka playing two games in September.
Promotions: Friday night is Pack the Pepsi Night, the Tauros will be giving away $250 every time they score. Then on Saturday night after the game is the November Skate with the Tauros. Both nights the Minotauros and Minot Hockey Boosters will be collecting toys for a joint toy drive benefiting the Minot Domestic Violence Crisis Center and Minot Air Force Base.