By Sean Williams, www.minotauroshockey.com
Minot, N.D. – For the last weekend of January, the Minot Minotauros will close out the month by hosting the Austin Bruins at the Maysa Arena. It has been quite some time since these two teams met, with their last series taking place in the beginning of December. Since then, the Tauros have maintained their first place spot in the Central Division with a record of 28-8-1 and 57 points, while the Bruins have gone through a slide and currently occupy fifth place in the Central with 38 points and a record of 18-16-1.
Over the last 10 games, the difference between the two teams has been glaring. Minot owns an 8-2-0-0 record and Austin owns a 3-6-0-1 record while currently bringing a five-game losing streak into the matchup. In the season series thus far, it has been kind to the Tauros who have a 5-1-0 record against the Bruins, which includes a pair of sweeps in their last two meetings with one sweep coming at home and the other on the road. In those six games against the Bruins, the Tauros are averaging 3.33 goals per game and allowing 2.16 goals per game.
Despite being in fifth place, the Bruins have been one of the more impressive teams on the power play in the Central Division. In 165 power-play opportunities, the Bruins have scored 33 times for a power-play conversion percentage of 20% which leads the division. They have done a decent job on the penalty kill too, where they have allowed 30 power-play goals for a penalty-kill percentage of 80%. Minot has a power-play conversion percentage of 19% by tallying 32 power-play goals in 166 opportunities and have allowed 15 power-play goals for a penalty-kill percentage of 88% which is the best percentage in the Central.
Top goal scorers for the Bruins include Austin Salani with 18 goals, Ocean Wallace with 14 goals, Alex Laurenza with 12 goals, Dylan Cook with 10 goals, and Gustav Noren with 8 goals. Leading the team in points is Salani with 43 points (18 goals, 25 assists); Laurenza with 33 points (12 goals, 21 assists); Cook with 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists); Wallace with 21 points (14 goals, 7 assists); and Noren with 21 points (8 goals, 13 assists).
Jack O’Hanisain is leading the Tauros with 20 goals, followed by Niklas Ketonen with 12 goals, Colby Woogk and Joel Lehtinen with 11 goals each, and Chad Muller with 10 goals. Top point getters include Lehtinen’s 40 points (11 goals, 29 assists); O’Hanisain’s 39 points (20 goals, 19 assists); Ketonen’s 34 points (12 goals, 22 assists); Trevor Stachowiak’s 32 points (9 goals, 23 assists); and Woogk’s 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists).
In net, Trent Wiemken of the Bruins has a 2.37 goals against average (GAA), a save percentage of 90%, and has two shutouts this season with one coming against the Tauros in October. Brady James has been the primary net minder for the Tauros, where he has put up a GAA of 2.09, a save percentage of 91%, and has put together two shutouts this season. The Minotauros have not lost to the Bruins since that shutout, and they will look to extend the Bruins’ losing streak this weekend. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. on Friday and Saturday night at the Pepsi Rink.
This weekend is also Liberty Tax Superhero Weekend, the Tauros will be wearing specialty jerseys which will be auctioned off via DASH online or through the Digital Auctions tab of the Tauros Hockey Mobile App. Tickets for both games are available through the “Ticketes” tab atop this page or by visiting the Tauros Ticketing Site: https://tickets.minotauroshockey.com/