By: Ken Oda, minotauroshockey.com
Minot, ND – The Minotauros night did not start well, but the home crowd certainly left happy once 60 minutes of hockey had been played. After falling to the in-state rival Bobcats in 11 of the 12 meetings last season and a preseason game in September the Tauros have knocked off the Cats twice in one week. The Tauros took last Tuesday’s exhibition game in Dickinson 5-4, and then beat Bismarck for real on Saturday night 4-1.
Despite the Tauros carrying play for most of the first period the Bobcats struck first. Mike Dockry drove to the net and beat Tyler Parks at the 12:46 mark of the period for the opening frame's only goal. Tyler Parks stopped the other 10 shots he faced in the first period, while his counterpart, Aaron Nelson made all nine saves required of him.
Denis Dalidovich drew the Tauros even with his fourth of the season when he drove the net and slipped the puck under Nelson’s pads just before they collided. Cameron Rowat then gave the Tauros the lead when he pounced on a Mason Morelli rebound in the slot and fired a wrist shot just under the crossbar.
The third period saw the Bobcats apply plenty of pressure forcing Parks to make 13 saves in the frame. In the middle of the period however with Connor McPherson already in the box for boarding Nelson was called for delay of game as he knocked the goal loose. The penalty on the goaltender negated a goal that was scored into the dislodged net. Then with the Tauros on a five-on-three advantage they once again put the puck into the net just after it was dislodged. This time the net coming free was ruled to be accidental so no penalty was assessed but the Tauros were not awarded the goal.
The Tauros finally were able to score with the net still in place on the two-man advantage at 11:21 of the period when David Dalbeck scored on a blast from the high slot that was redirected off of a Bobcat player. Less than three minutes later the Tauros would put the game out of reach, when Jadin Martin and Dalidovich worked a two-on-one rush. Martin, who had two assists already took the feed from Dalidovich in the left circle and cut across the net mouth getting Nelson to bite on the forehand fake. The Tauros forwards then lifted a backhander over the Bobcat netminder to push the lead to 4-1.
Three Stars of the Game:
1st Star: Jadin Martin: 1 goal 2 assists
2nd Star: Denis Dalidovich: 1 goal 1 assist
3rd Star: Tyler Parks: 31 saves 1.00 GAA
Next up: The Tauros have a busy holiday weekend with a Thanksgiving rematch with the Bobcats in Bismarck followed by a pair of home games against the Coulee Region Chill.