By: Ken Oda, minotauroshockey.com
Minot, ND – The Minotauros have the best road record in the NAHL at 11-2-1; a record that it so good only five teams have better home records than the traveling Tauros. Conversely the Tauros sit at a middling 5-6-2 at the Maysa Arena, and have gone 0-3-1 since their last home win on November 11th against the Aberdeen Wings. With the Brookings Blizzard coming to Minot tonight the Tauros look to bring their winning road ways to home ice to stay ahead of Austin for first place in the Central Division.
The Tauros are 3-1-0 against the Blizzard on the season series and have outscored Brookings 12-5 since dropping the first meeting 4-1 here at the Maysa. Johnny Walker has lead the charge with five goals and two assists against the Blizzard but will miss tonight’s game serving a suspension for his fight last Saturday in the game with Bismarck. Troy Degler has an assists as well as two of his three goals on the season against the Blizzard and posted seven points against them last season. The Tauros’ leading scorer Blake Lizotte (8g 25a) has a goal and five helpers against the Blizzard in the four meetings thus far. In net Atte Tolvanen has played all four against the Blizzard allowing nine goals on 82 shots.
For the Blizzard Tyler Frischmon and Joe Anderson each have two goals against the Tauros on the year. The Tauros have held Brookings’ leading scored Beau Michaud relatively in check limiting him to just two assists in the four games. Zach Glienke leads the way for the Blizzard against the Tauros with four points on a goal and three assists. In net Ryan Kubic has played in all six games since joining the Blizzard making five starts. The ’98 born goaltender has played well with a .927 SV% and 2.20 GAA on the season, but the Tauros have had some success against Kubic scoring four goals on 31 shots.
Special teams may be the key to tonight’s battle with both teams finding power play success against each other with the Tauros power play converting on 6-of-18 chances and the Blizzard on 2-of-8. If the earlier meetings are any indication the Tauros should carry most of the play, as they have outshot the Blizzard 115-82 in just four games, including a 93-60 margin in the Tauros three victories.
Tickets for tonight’s game are still available by clicking the “Tickets” tab atop this page or by clicking here. Fans who buy their tickets online and print them at home not only avoid having to stand in line on game day but also get $1 off of their next order at the Spicy Pie in Minot.