by: Ken Oda, minotaurohockey.com
Aberdeen, SD – The Minotauros got off to a hot start in Aberdeen but could not hold on for the win. Now with a home and home set against the Bobcats over the next two nights they have to bounce back quickly. In the first period the Tauros erupted to take a 3-0 lead. Jake Howie opened the scoring on a breakaway, at 9:22 off of a nice feed from Jon Lizotte. Lizotte would add a goal of his own later in the frame; off of a faceoff win Lizotte fired from the blue line and beat Chad Catt. Then with just 0:05 Troy Degler redirected Kyle Kruenegel’s shot past Catt to give the Tauros a 3-0 lead. The Tauros were unable to hold the lead however; three goals from the Wings in the second period tied the game.
Aberdeen carried the play through most of the third period outshooting the Tauros 7-3 before taking a with 6:25 to play. After Jake Johnson was sent to the box a half a minute later, Aberdeen scored on the power play to push their lead to 5-3. After a series of penalties had the Tauros on a four on three power play, the Tauros pulled Brandon Wildung for the extra attacker and five on four advantage. After the first Aberdeen penalty expired the Wings hit the empty net to push the lead to 6-3 which held for the final.
With the game against Aberdeen out of the way the Tauros now turn their attention to the Highway 83 rivalry with the Bismarck Bobcats. The Tauros have taken two in a row from their southern rivals and now play a home and home set with them on Friday and Saturday night, with Friday’s game at the Maysa.
Lizotte and Colton Kramer each have three goals and two assists to lead the Tauros against Bismarck through the first eight meetings. In net Wildung has a 3-1-1 record against the Bobcats but is coming off of a rough outing against Aberdeen. Merrick Madsen has an almost identical save percentage to Wildung against the Bobcats (.895 vs .896) yet has allowed more than half a goal more per game in going 1-2-0 against the Capital Kitties.
The Tauros will need to find an answer for Cullen Willox whom has four goals and six helpers against Minot, as well as Filip Starzynski who has four and three. Scott Albertoni has made three of his six starts for the Bobcats against the Tauros and found every type of decision with a 1-1-1 record on a .895 SV%. Aaron Nelson has not fared much better statistically with a .899 SV% but has a 3-1-0 record against the Tauros.
Friday night is SRT Communications Night at the Maysa the first 250 fans will receive a Minotauros rally towel. After the game there will be a post-game skate with the team at which young fans will receive a Minotauros team poster compliments of SRT which they will be able to have autographed by the players. Ticket for Friday night’s game are still available by clicking the “tickets” tab atop this page.