— By Jeremy Pike, minotauroshockey.com ST.CLOUD, MN — The Minot Minotauros tied the franchise record for most wins in a row after sweeping the St Cloud Norsemen this weekend. They capped the sweep off with a 6-3 win Saturday night, thanks in large part to jack O’Hanisain’s four-point night and Nicklas Ketonen’s two-goal effort. Saturday’s win tied this season’s Tauros with the 2015-16 team at nine straight wins.
Saturday night kicked off much the same way as Friday night did, with the host Norsemen getting on the board first. Braden Panzer found a loose puck that caromed off the end boards and flipped it just inside the near post to goalie Lukas Swedin’s left only 2:11 into the opening period.
From there, it was the Tauros show. Niklas Ketonen capped off a beautiful tic-tac-toe sequence to tie the game at one 6:17 into the period. O’Hanisain led the odd-man rush down the middle before dishing off to Joel Lehtinen on the left wing. Lehtinen threaded a pass through the Norsemen defense to Ketonon who was wide open at the back post for a tap-in for his 11th goal of the season. It was O’Hanisain’s 17th assist and Lehtinen’s 24th helper of the season.
24 seconds later, the Tauros had their first lead of the night. Adam Mahler threw a puck on net from the corner to St Cloud goalie Ran Manzella’s left. The puck hit Manzella’s leg pad but fell right to Nick Sewecke’s stick and he jammed it home for his fifth goal of the season. Mahler picked up his ninth assist and Weston Knox got his ninth.
Then with 9:13 gone in the first, O’Hanisain got his first of the night and 18th of the season on the power play with St Cloud’s Niklas Miller in the box for hooking. O’Hanisain and Rylan Jockims played catch on the power play before O’Hanisain found a window just above the faceoff dot to Manzella’s right. Jockims teed him up and O’Hanisain one-timed the pass home. Jockims picked up his 16th assist on the season and Colby Bear got his third.
The Tauros went to the locker room with a 3-1 advantage on the scoreboard despite being outshot by St Cloud 11-9 in the first. That was a trend that continued in the second period.
7:55 into the second, the Tauros took a 4-1 lead when Chad Muller attemped to put a pass from the point to the back post to Manzella’s left, but the puck took a carom through the sea of St Cloud defenders in the slot. The redirection caught Manzella completely by surprise and he could only watch as the puck slid by him for Muller’s 10th goal of the season. O’Hanisain and Lehtinen both were credited with assists, O’Hanisain’s 18th and Lehtinen’s 25th.
St Cloud attempted to claw their way back into the game less than a minute later when the Norsemen did what they do better than any team, score a shorthanded goal. With Briggs Orr in the box for interference, Wyatt Wurst entered the Tauros zone on the right wing and sent a pass into the slot through two defenders. Tyler Dysart snagged the puck with another defender on his back before sliding it to his backhand and roofing it over Swedin’s shoulder.
Almost exactly a minute later, the Tauros restored the three-goal lead. Ketonen and Lehtinen combined to get into the offensive zone before Ketonen put a shot on goal. Manzella got a piece of it, but the shot was hard enough to trickle through and into the back of the net. Initially, Sewecke was credited with a second goal, but upon later review, he got a stick to it after it had already crossed the goal line. Ketonen scored his 12th goal of the season while Lehtinen picked up his 26th assist and Cayden Casey notched his 13th helper.
The Tauros would take a 5-2 lead into the break but were still outshot 14-10 in the period and 25-19 overall.
With just over five minutes remaining, St Cloud had one last-gasp effort to get back into the game. With Mahler in the box for cross-checking, the Norsemen pulled Manzella for a 6-on-4 advantage. Kyle Miller found Michael Coleman open, and Coleman one-timed it home to make it 5-3.
However, O’Hanisain was not done yet. St Cloud pulled Manzella again to find another goal, but O’Hanisain got an empty-net goal from the neutral zone for his 19th of the season. Ketonen got his 18th assist and Knox got his 10th.
Swedin finished the night with 26 saves on 29 shots while Manzella had 20 saves on 26 shots.
Friday night was a little easier breathing for the Tauros despite allowing the first goal. Coleman opened the scoring for St Cloud 7:49 into the game. Hagen Moe’s shot caromed off the end boards and Tauro goalie Brady James attempted to poke it away from danger as more Norsemen crashed the crease. Unfortunately, the puck kicked out to the slot where Coleman was able to rip it home.
With 13:01 gone by in the first, the Tauros answered back. Ian Spencer led an odd-man rush down the left wing before dishing it off to Colby Bear who was on the right wing all alone. Bear skated in a bit before ripping a shot just inside the far post for his third of the year. Spencer picked up his first assist and Pavol Funtek added his eighth.
38 seconds later, the Tauros had the lead. Muller won a race in the neutral zone to a loose puck and skated down the right wing. A St Cloud defender carried him, and Muller dropped the puck back to a trailing Will Dawson. Dawson picked up the pick in the slot and ripped it home for his seventh goal of the season. Muller got his ninth assist and Ty James got credit for his third assist of the season.
Less than three minutes later, the Tauros picked up an insurance goal. They got sustained pressure and cycled the puck below the goal line for a bit before Sewecke sent the puck back to the point and a waiting Colby Woogk. Woogk uncorked a cannon of a shot that goalie Max Weilandt initially saved, but Woogk had so much power behind the shot that the puck bounced up into the air before coming down on Weilandt’s back and bouncing into the open net. That was Woogk’s 10th goal of the year, making him only the fourth defenseman in Tauros franchise history to hit double-digit goals in a season. Sewecke picked up his sixth assist and Bear got his second assist.
The Tauros took the 3-1 lead into the first intermission and were outshooting the Norsemen 8-4.
The second period featured more fireworks both on the scoreboard and on the penalty sheet. Five minutes into the period, Muller pounced on a loose puck in the crease and jammed it home to make it 4-1. Dawson and John Small got assists, Dawson’s 12th and Small’s 10th. In the aftermath, Small and Moe were sent to the box for unsportsmanlike conduct. 22 seconds later, Andrew Cumming joined Moe in the box for St Cloud, giving the Tauros a power play.
18 seconds later, O’Hanisain extended the lead to 5-1 with assists from Jockims and Lehtinen. The game would remain back and forth for a few minutes with both Muller and Hudson Blue going to the box within 17 seconds of each other.
Then Woogk tied the single-season record for a Tauros defenseman 11:29 into the second. Captain Trevor Stachowiak attempted to jam the puck home after John Emmons got him the puck on the doorstep but Manzella (who had replaced Weilandt after O’Hanisain’s goal) slammed the door shut. Unfortunately for him, Stax got the puck back up the left wing wall where Woogk pinched in from the point. Woogk skated onto the puck and unleashed a slap shot reminiscent of his earlier goal. This time, the goalie couldn’t even get a piece of it as it zipped over Manzella’s right shoulder.
Just nine seconds later, fireworks of a different kind erupted. Wurst roughed up Bear before the two dropped the gloves in a fight that saw both players landing big shots before Wurst wrestled Bear to the ice.
That would be the end of the fisticuffs, but it was evident that the Norsemen were going to try to get the Tauros off their game with a physical end to the game. A late penalty by Woogk did lead to more shots from St Cloud, but James stood tall to keep the lead at 6-1 going into the third. The Norsemen did outshoot the Tauros in the period 10-8 but the Tauros were still outshooting them 16-14.
Then only 39 seconds into the third with the Tauros on the power play, Lehtinen made it 7-1 with his 10th of the season. Muller and O’Hanisain both chipped in assists. The Tauros controlled the third period, outshooting St Cloud 10-2 for a 26-16 advantage overall. James saved 15 of 16 shots he faced while Weilandt went off early after allowing five goals on 12 shots faced. Manzella came in and stopped 12 of 14 shots he faced.
Both teams will come back to Minot for a rematch at the Pepsi Rink at Maysa Arena on January 12th and 13th. Tickets for both games are available in the Tauros Hockey Mobile App, through the “Tickets” tab atop this page, or by visiting the Tauros ticketing site.