Weekend Preview 2-27-24

By Sean Williams, www.minotauroshockey.com

 

Minot, N.D. – This weekend marks the last two times the Minot Minotauros and the Aberdeen Wings will meet during the regular season, with puck drop scheduled for 7:35 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday night on the Pepsi Rink at Maysa Arena. Still continuing to hold on to their first place spot in the Central Division standings, the Minotauros enter the weekend with a record of 34-12-1 and 69 points in 47 games. The Wings currently occupy third place with a record of 25-18-2 and 55 points in 48 games.

 

In a total of 10 games this year, the division foes have kept the season series fairly close. The Tauros hold a 6-4-0 record and one sweep against the Wings, while the teams have also split four times this season.  Of those 10 games, seven of them have been decided by two goals or less with the Tauros averaging 2.6 goals per game and allowing 2.5 goals per game against the Wings.

 

Over their last 10 games, Aberdeen and Minot have shared a similar fate on the ice with the Wings having a 6-3-0-1 record and the Tauros having a 6-4-0-0 record in the last 10 games. For the full 2023-24 season, both teams have shown the ability to score with Minot having scored a division best 161 goals and Aberdeen scoring 153 goals which is second in the Central Division. The Tauros, however, have the edge in the crease by allowing 100 goals this year compared to the 141 goals allowed by Aberdeen. Minot also has the edge in special teams with an 89 penalty-kill percentage (PK%) and a 19 power-play conversion (PP%), compared to Aberdeen’s 78 PK% and 18 PP%.

 

Depth has been a key to success for both teams, as they have gotten lengthy contributions from their rosters. The Tauros have 13 players who have totaled at least 20 points this year, while the Wings have 12 players who fit the same criteria. Additionally, both teams have five players who have hit 30 points or more this season. For Minot, those players are Jack O’Hanisain (50 points on 24 goals, 26 assists); Joel Lehtinen (48 points on 14 goals, 34 assists); Niklas Ketonen (41 points on 13 goals, 28 assists); Trevor Stachowiak (38 points on 11 goals, 27 assists); and Colby Woogk (31 points on 13 goals, 18 assists).

 

Aberdeen’s top point getters are Leonid Bulgakov with 43 points (20 goals, 23 assists); Riley Sharun with 38 points (11 goals, 27 assists); Logan Gravink with 35 points (15 goals, 20 assists); Simon Pollock with 35 points (9 goals, 26 assists); and Nikolai Tishkevich with 32 points (17 goals, 15 assists). In net, Aberdeen has been led by Adam Dybal who has a 91.0 save percentage (SV%) and 2.93 goals against average (GAA) in 31 games this year. Brady James has been the primary goaltender for Minot, where he has found a lot of success. James owns a 91.3 SV% and a 2.11 GAA in 25 games played this year.