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Weekend Preview 10/23 & 10/24 vs. Austin Bruins For the first time in the 2026-27 season, the Tauros have back-to-back home weekend series. This weekend, October 23rd and 24th, features the Austin Bruins, the first newcomer to The Maysa outside of the Norsemen this season. CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS The Tauros enter at 9-2-0 coming off a second weekend sweep of St. Cloud, and Minot is now 4-0-0 at home with all their wins coming in regulation. Austin was swept by Bismarck last weekend, but they did pick up a point with Saturday’s game going to overtime. The Bruins enter this weekend at 6-4-1, sitting at 4th in the Central Division with the Tauros still tied atop the Central with Bismarck. Both of the Tauros’ wins last weekend versus St. Cloud featured no Minot goals in the first two periods. All seven Minot goals were scored in the 3rd period. There are worse times to play your best hockey of the game, but the Tauros are certainly hoping to set a better tone this weekend against a Bruins team that is hungry for a win. They are just 1-3-1 in their last five games, with their lone win coming against the Tauros two weekends ago on October 9th. The Bruins went into that previous series with the Tauros struggling on the power play. In their 4-3 loss to Minot on October 8th, they scored all three of their goals on the power play, which accounts for 60% of all their power play goals on the season. Yes, they’ve scored just five so far this season (just a 9.8% clip), and they are 0-for their last-16 on the man advantage. Goals in general have been a struggle for Austin recently. They scored just one in their two games against Bismarck, and they sit 27th in the NAHL in goals scored. Conversely, the Tauros are tied for 4th in the NAHL in goals against.
Both teams will be itching to get an early goal, and it could promote a lot of movement and open ice to work with early in the weekend. The Bruins opened the scoring in the first two matchups of the season with Minot. With a season series split so far, this will be a good test for the Tauros at The Maysa this weekend. Keep an eye on defenseman Thomas Lahtinen this weekend. He is one point away from tying his career high in points at any level. He scored 10 points twice with Ässät U20 and HIFK U18 “A” in Finland in 25 and 36 games respectively. His offensive prowess combined with his solid defense has been a weapon on both ends of the ice for the Tauros this season, and a milestone might be in order this weekend against Austin. Puck drop is at 7:35pm CT, and before Saturday’s game, fans can bring their kids to get some Trunk-or-Treat candy before the game starting at 3:30pm. Get your tickets today at tickets.minotauroshockey.com or on the Tauros Hockey Mobile App. Can’t make it to the game? Tune in on NAHL TV or listen live on our Facebook Live Audio Feed. |
