Minot, ND – The Minotauros came out of the Christmas break with a busy stretch of eight games in 17 days but managed to post an impressive 6-2-0 record to start the second half. Their reward? A weekend off to catch their breath before taking on the first place Austin Bruins.
The Bruins meanwhile come in having gone 5-2-2 in nine contests since the Christmas break including their first pointless weekend of the season. Last weekend the Bruins were swept by the last place St. Cloud Norsemen in a home-and-home set. The Bruins have been strong all season staying in just about every game they have played winning 23 contests and seeing half of their 14 losses coming in overtime or shootouts.
The Tauros meanwhile are 19-15-2 on the season and with a .500 record against Aberdeen and a winning record against everyone else in the division except Austin. The 6-2-0 start out of the break would be capped with an exclamation point if the Tauros could pick up their first wins against the Bruins on the season.
The head-to-head numbers against Austin have not been pretty for the Tauros, however injuries played a large part in the series. Lawton Zacher stopped 41 of 44 shots in his lone start against the Bruins in the teams’ first meeting, a 3-2 shootout loss on November 4th; he was knocked out of his next start against the Bruins with a injury after stopping 16 of the first 17 shots of the game. In his place Dane Couture and Cam Milewski posted a combine .858 SV% and 4.48 GAA. At the other end of the ice Hunter Longhi, Chase LaPinta, and Jan-Kasper Bergman each have two goals against the Bruins.
Friday’s game is sponsored by Total Nutrition of Minot and Saturday is Liberty Tax Superhero Night with free superhero masks for the first 500 kids in attendance. Saturday is also the January Skate With the Tauros. Both nights doors open at 6:30 p.m. for 7:35 puck drops. Tickets are available through the “Tickets” tab atop this page or by clicking here.