By: Ken Oda, minotauroshockey.com
Austin, MN – After winning on Friday night the Minotauros expected an early push back from the Bruins and the Bruins certainly did. Three goals for the home team in the opening twenty minutes created a hole that the Tauros could not dig themselves out of. The Tauros fought back valiantly over the final 40 minutes but just missed on several chances and fell in Game 2.
Alex Jasiek (1g 3a) opened the scoring 5:01 into the game. 9:01 later JC Maclean (2g 2a) doubled the Bruins lead when he found a loose puck on a net mouth scramble and punched it past Atte Tolvanen. Luke Dietsch (3g 2a) closed out the scoring in the first at 17:36 when he tapped the puck into an open net to finish a nice passing play on the power play for the Bruins.
The Tauros pushed back in the second period outshooting the Bruins 13-5 in the frame but Jon Lizotte’s (1g 1a) shorthanded tally was the only goal the Tauros would score in the period. The Tauros went 0-4 on the power play in the period including failing to score on a 5-on-3 advantage.
Those missed opportunities would come back to haunt the Tauros in the third. They continued to pressure but could not solve Evan Smith even with two more power play chances. The Tauros would get an extended power play late in the third when Zach Kennedy (0g 1a) was whistled for slashing and unsportsmanlike conduct. The Tauros were unable to convert on either power play, and not long after returning to even strength the Bruins’ Alex Petterson (1g 4a) was able to hit the empty net to cement the Bruin victory.
The end result is that for the third season in a row the Minotauros came to Austin and stole home ice advantage by earning a split with the Central Division regular season champions. Now the Tauros will return to the Maysa looking to succeed where past teams have failed and defend home ice and eliminate the Bruins. The loss to the Bruins on Saturday was the Tauros first loss to the Bruins this season. Game 3 and 4 are at the Maysa Arena next Friday and Saturday respectively; both games start at 7:35 p.m. Tickets for both Game 3 and 4 are available by clicking the “Tickets” tab atop this page.