Bismarck, ND – With a winning record against four divisional opponents and the second best record in the Central the Minotauros hot start to the season had just one blemish, a weekend sweep at the hands of the Bobcats earlier this month. On the road in hostile territory the Tauros looked to avenge that sweep and hand the Bobcats their first home loss of the season.
The game got off to an inauspicious start for the Tauros with the Bobcats netting a goal on the games opening shift. Austin Jouppi (6g 14a) scored just 20 seconds in off of a feed from Jacob Marti (7g 3a) on a two-on-one rush giving the Cats a quick lead. The Tauros fought back however generating offense from the blue line. Defenseman Sam Skinner (3g 9a) tied the game with a shot through traffic that Bismarck goalie Andrew Miller never saw. 38 seconds later Isak Dahlin (5g 5a) then gave the Tauros the lead for good when he deflected a Wilhelm Wassberg (0g 3a) shot from the point to make it 2-1 Tauros.
The second period saw the Tauros extend the lead with Nik Armstrong-Kingkade (13g 9a) sneaking a shot along the ice from the slot to make it 3-1. Armstrong-Kingkade then pushed the lead to 4-1 with a power play goal that snuck through Miller’s five hole and sent him to the bench for the night in favor of Ryan Ullan.
The Bobcats pushed back in the third with help from the officials, on their second power play of the period just 5:41 into the third Jouppi scored on a cross crease feed to pull the Cats within two. Jouppi then set up Adam Stacho (2g 9a) for the Cats’ third of the game with 3:36 to play. With less than two minutes to play and a draw just outside of the Tauros zone Kevin Ness (3g 7a) won the faceoff back to Brennan Couet (1g 7a) who fired the puck from his own zone into an empty net. The Bobcats won the ensuing faceoff and again pulled Ullan for an extra attacker but Armstrong-Kingkade stole the puck in neutral ice and hit the empty net for his third of the night. The goal was Armstrong-Kingkade’s third of the night giving him the 11th hat trick in Tauro history, it was the second to come against the Bobcats. The win gave the Tauros their fifth in a row.
Next up the Tauros host the St. Cloud Blizzard this Friday and Saturday. Friday night is Pack the Pepsi Night, the Tauros will be debuting their black-out uniform and giving away $250 for each goal they score, every fan in attendance will be eligible to win. Then Saturday after the game is Skate with the Tauros. Tickets for the games are available through the “Tickets” tab atop this page.