Weekend Recap 11-25-23

Nov 26, 2023

by: Andrew Lennox, gotauros.com Minot, ND – The Minot Minotauros, going into the week, were leading the Central Division and had an impressive six-game winning streak. They kicked off the Thanksgiving week with a busy schedule of three games. On Wednesday, their first challenge was an away game against in-state rivals, the Bismarck Bobcats, followed by a home series in the Magic City versus the Aberdeen Wings.

Wednesday saw Bismarck strike first at 1:11 into the contest as Kade Kohanski broke in on a 2-on-1, setting up Tommy Cronin. The Tauros would respond just over a minute later when a simple dump into the Bobcats’ defensive zone led to goalie Stephen Peck coming out to play the puck. Attempting to clear it up the boards, Will Dawson tracked down the puck. He would then find Colby Bear in the slot, and Bear’s shot got through Peck as he scrambled back into goal.

At 4:31, the Tauros would take a 2-1 lead when they capitalized on a power play opportunity with a goal from Trevor Stachowiak. Weston Knox and Cayden Casey provided the assists. Just under a minute later, Bismarck would knot the score at 2-2 with Carter Cormier netting a breakaway goal.

Bismarck would retake the lead with a power play marker at 14:08 when Kohanski took a shot that Tauros tender Brady James initially saved. However, Jakub Kopecky tapped in the rebound. Before going into the first intermission, Cayden Casey fired a shot on goal and Jordan Gibbs cashed in on the second opportunity to tie the game at 3-3.

The second period saw a goaltending change, with Klayton Knapp taking over for Bismarck. The Tauros took advantage of a power play at 1:43, as Niklas Ketonen pounced on a rebound after Knapp’s first stop. Luke Roelofs added a redirected shot to the Bobcats’ goal tally at 8:15. Bismarck would again score with a power play goal from Tommy Cronin at 16:44. At the end of the second period, the Bobcats led 5-4 despite the Tauros outshooting them 25-20.                                                                                                                                                                                             

The intensity continued into the third period, when Cronin found Patrick Johnson at 1:19, extending the Bobcats’ lead to 6-4. Minot fought back on the power play at 4:51, with Colby Woogk scoring, but the Bobcats held on for a 6-5 victory despite being outshot 34-30.

In the Magic City on Friday against Aberdeen, the first power play opportunity of the game arrived at 9:56 of the opening period. Minot capitalized on the man advantage, taking a 1-0 lead as Chad Muller netted his fifth goal of the season with assists from Rylan Jockims and Jack O’Hanisian at 11:04. Minot headed into the intermission with a 1-0 lead, having scored four power-play goals in the last two games. The Tauros also led in shots on goal, with a count of 11-7.                                                                                                                                                                                             

In the second period, Minot extended their lead to 2-0 on another power-play goal. Chad Muller, in on a 2-on-1, fed Jack O’Hanisian, who found the back of the net at 5:05. This marked O’Hanisian’s 11th goal of the season. A tripping call handed out to Bear at 10:49 gave Aberdeen their first power play opportunity. Still, the Tauros successfully killed off the penalty and scored shortly after. John Small scored on the power play, with assists from Joel Lehtinen and Jockims, making it 3-0 at 14:10 of the second frame.

Aberdeen managed to get one back as Kie Vahkangas scored from the top of the circles, narrowing the gap to 3-1 late in the period. However, Minot maintained the lead going into intermission, converting on three power-play chances.

 

Into the third, a tripping penalty by Coby Woogk at 5:37 provided Aberdeen with their second power play. Isak Holmstrom took advantage, scoring at 6:12 to make it 3-2. Minot would respond when Woogk capitalized on a Wings’ miscue, extending Minot’s lead to 4-2 15:30 into the final frame. Woogk’s goal marked his fifth in the last six games.

The Tauros successfully held on for the 4-2 win, with James Norton making 26 saves on 28 Wings shots. Muller contributed two points (1G-1A), while Jokims collected three assists in the victory.

Aberdeen tallied first Saturday with Kie Vahakangas finding the back of the net at 7:45, giving the Wings a 1-0 lead. Minot had their first power play chance at 12:05 but could not convert. Despite outshooting the Wings 12-5, the first frame concluded with the Tauros trailing 1-0.

In the second period, Minot’s Jockims leveled the score at 1-1 with his first goal of the season, firing a shot from the high slot at 7:03. Colby Woogk contributed with his fifth assist of the year. Minot led the middle frame in shots at 14-2. The teams entered the second intermission tied at 1-1.

The Wings regained the lead in the third as Riley Sharun jumped on an unfortunate bounce off the boards in the Tauros’ defensive zone, making it 2-1 at the 6:50 mark. With 3:19 left in regulation, Jackson Anderson extended Aberdeen’s lead to 3-1. As the game neared its conclusion, Minot pulled goaltender Norton in favor of an extra attacker with 2:14 left. Unfortunately, Aberdeen sealed the victory with an empty-net goal, making the final score 4-1.

Despite outshooting the Wings 40-15 in Saturday’s contest, the Tauros couldn’t secure the win. The Thanksgiving weekend ended with Minot losing two of three games. 

Next, the Tauros head to Aberdeen to take on the Wings again. Then, they will head to Austin to take on the Bruins in two weeks. The Tauros return home on December 15th and 16th against the North Iowa Bulls. The December 16th game will be the annual SCHEELS of Minot Teddy Bear Toss. 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 tickets.minotauroshockey.com.