By Sean Williams, gotauros.com
Minot, N.D. – Having four games in a row against your rival to end a season is a daunting task to say the least. However, the Minot Minotauros have shown that the task is not too tall for them thus far, as they are coming off a sweep of the Bismarck Bobcats last weekend. With the sweep, it helped the Tauros officially secure first place in the Central Division and they can now call themselves the 2023-24 Central Division champions.
Even though the Tauros were already locked into a playoff spot heading into the final four games, finishing strong and carrying momentum with them into the postseason would be beneficial and so far they have displayed that they are ready to do that. With two games left, the Tauros have a record of 44-13-1 and 89 points in 58 games. All that is left for them to do is to continue building upon and putting the finishing touches on the most successful regular season in franchise history.
On the other end of the ice, the Bobcats are locked into second place in the Central Division with a record of 38-16-1 and 80 points in 58 games. While both teams are heading to the postseason, neither knows who they will face yet as the third through fifth spots in the division are all within one point heading into the final weekend. The Austin Bruins currently occupy third place with 64 points, the Aberdeen Wings are in fifth place with 63 points, and the St. Cloud Norsemen are in fourth place with 63 points via a tiebreaker. The Tauros will face whoever secures fourth place by the end of the weekend.
All season long, these two in-state rivals have provided plenty of entertaining and competitive hockey. In the 10 times the Tauros and Bobcats have met this year, eight of those games have been decided by two goals or less. One of the games that was decided by more, occurred last weekend where the Tauros outscored the Bobcats 8-4 in a sweep.
Relying on the depth that has helped the team have such a successful season, Minot had seven different goal scorers in last weekend’s sweep of Bismarck, as Colby Bear, Chad Muller, Adam Mahler, Nicholas Sewecke, Trevor Stachowiak, Cayden Casey, and Jack O’Hanisain all lit the lamp at least once. Bismarck had four different goal scorers with Landon Fandel, Tommy Cronin, Tamas Toth, and Jakub Kopecky all finding the back of the net over the weekend.
As the regular season comes to a close this upcoming weekend, the Tauros and Bobcats will pick up where they left off and play at VFW Sports Center in Bismarck on Friday at 7:15 p.m. These two will then close out the regular season in the Magic City, as the Tauros and Bobcats will head to the Maysa Arena for a 7:35 p.m. puck drop on Saturday night.