Minot, ND – The Minotauros stayed hot sweeping the Minnesota Wilderness this weekend in front of the biggest crowds of the season to extend their winning streak to five games. The Tauros dominated the special teams battle and got the top flight goaltending they have come to expect from Keenan Rancier to get the wins in their final homestand of the month.
On Saturday night (box score) the Tauros fell behind early continuing a theme from the previous weekend’s wins. Bobby Metz one-timed a puck past Rancier off a feed from Hunter Young who was behind the net to make it 1-0 in favor of the visitors midway through the first. Logan Anderson would draw the Tauros even when he swatted a rebound out of midair to make it 101 3:39 into the second. Gabe Temple would give the Tauros a 2-1 lead on the rush when he got two additional whacks at the puck after goaltender Kaleb Johnson made the initial save. Former Tauro Donte Lawson would draw the Wilderness even however late in the period when he was left alone in front of Rancier. The 2-2 draw would hold late into the third but with Oliver Bezick in the box for tripping Jack Westlund standing in the high slot redirected a pass past Johnson to give the Tauros a 3-2 win.
Saturday night (box score) the Tauros struck first with another power play goal. This time it was Temple with a fantastic individual effort to split the defense and beat Jacob Zacharewicz just under the crossbar. Westlund would also score for the second night in a row to make it 2-0 Tauros early in the second. The Wilderness would cut it to 2-1 just a couple of minutes later when Cole Hansen beat Rancier with a well placed shot high to the blocker side on the rush. Tyler Kostelecky scored his fifth as a Tauro with just 21 second left in the period to give the Tauros a 3-1 lead heading into the third finishing off a play on a three-on-one rush. Lawson tipped Brett Roloson’s pass intended for Cade Stibbe but the deflection landed right on Kostelecky’s stick and he snapped a shot past Zacharewicz. Damon Zimmer netted his team leading ninth of the season midway through the third after Trevor Stachowiak found him alone in front, it was Stachowiak’s second assist of the night. Then just over two minutes later Reid Bogenholm flipped the script and gave Tauro fans a present for his 19th birthday. On a great individual effort Bogenholm carried the puck deep into the zone, lost it for a moment, took it back, undressed another defender and flipped a backhander into the net. The goal was the Tauros fifth of the night earning every Tauro fan in the building free wings from Buffalo Wings & Rings (with any purchase and ticket stub).
Next up for the Tauros is three road weekends in a row starting with a trip to Aberdeen for games on Friday and Saturday night. The Farmer’s Union Pregame Show with Ken Oda and Peter Theodos will start at 7:00 p.m. both night for 7:15 puck drops on the Minotauros Network (HockeyTV, Facebook, Mixlr, and gotauros.com/listenlive).