AUSTIN, MN – The Minot Minotauros found themselves in a spot they had not been in all series less than seven minutes into the first period Friday night. They trailed the Austin Bruins. However, that only lasted less than seven minutes en route to a commanding 7-1 win to cap off a series sweep of the Bruins.
Alex Laurenza was credited as the puck slithered past Tauros goaltender Brady James in the midst of a scrum in the crease only 6:25 into the game. It was the first and only time the Bruins led all series long.
Joel Lehtinen tied the game with his first of two goals on the night at the 13:07 mark. Will Dawson carried the puck down the left wing before flipping the puck in front of Lehtinen in the slot. Lehtinen then ripped a shot just inside the far post. Pavol Funtek was credited with the secondary assist.
The first period ended 1-1 despite the Bruins outshooting the Tauros 11-6. And it would not be a Tauros-Bruins game without Will Diamond doing something. He was called with only 36 seconds remaining in the period after he skated full-speed into James in the crease.
The Tauros would take their first lead of the game on a bit of a crazy goal only 6:18 into the second period. The Tauros carried the puck down the left wing and the puck bounced out front of the crease. Rylan Jockims pinched all the way down, and a Bruins player attempted to clear the puck away from the crease. Instead, it bounced off Jockims and trickled into the Bruins’ net.
Jack O’Hanisain made it 3-1 Tauros with just under six minutes remaining in the second. Funtek picked up his second assist of the night as he sent Lehtinen into the zone with a nice feathered pass. Lehtinen gathered the puck then dropped the puck back to Jack O’Hanisain with a nifty between-the-legs pass. O’Hanisain dragged the puck past a Bruins defender before having his shot fought off. He followed up on the rebound and ripped it home.
The Tauros weren’t done in the period. With just over a minute remaining, Will Dawson carried the puck into the slot but had the puck poke-checked off his stick. It went directly to Murray Marvin-Cordes who sent it rink-wide to Cayden Casey. Casey held it for a second before returning the puck to Marvin-Cordes who wired it home for his first playoff goal as a Tauro.
The Tauros took a 4-1 lead into the final intermission after outshooting the Bruins 10-5 in the period. That still meant the shots were tied at 16 overall, but obviously the Tauros were doing a lot more with their shots.
The Tauros went back to the power play 3:52 into the third when Dylan Cook was called for boarding. In all, the Tauros had six power plays on Friday night. Lehtinen took only 21 seconds of power play time to net his second goal of the night. O’Hanisain carried the puck down the left wall before finding Lehtinen in the high slot. Lehtinen went down to one knee to hammer a one-timer into the back of the net. Niklas Ketonen picked up the secondary assist.
With 9:07 gone in the third, the Tauros stopped an attempted Bruins clearance as Jordan Gibbs kept the puck inside the blue line before finding John Emmons. Emmons skated into the slot and went bar-down to make it 6-1.
John Small kicked the proverbial extra point on the power play with Austin Salani in the box for elbowing Small. A long shot from Colby Woogk at the side of the crease, and Small poked it home with 15:53 gone in the third.
Despite seven goals, the Tauros only had three multi-point skaters on the night: O’Hanisain and Dawson had two points each and Lehtinen had three. Brady James finished the night with 23 saves on 24 shots.
The series win over the Bruins was also the first playoff series win for Trevor Stachowiak in his Tauros career and the first playoff series win for Cody Campbell as head coach of the Tauros.
Tickets are now available through the “Tickets” tab at the top of the page or at tickets.minotauroshockey.com for the first two games of the second round of the Robertson Cup playoffs on May 3rd and May 4th.