By Jeremy Pike, gotauros.com – The Minotauros got off to a hot start Friday night and never looked back, sweeping the North Iowa Bulls on the weekend by a combined score of 14-1. The Tauros capped the weekend off with a 9-1 win Saturday night.
Chad Muller got the scoring started just over eight minutes into the period as he jammed the puck home past Bulls goalie Dylan Johnson for his seventh goal of the season. John Small got credited with the assist, his ninth of the season. It also happened to be the goal that launched an avalanche of teddy bears to the ice as Saturday night was the annual Teddy Bear Toss. In total, the Tauros collected 1,613 teddy bears.
It was a great way to cap off Muller’s week as he committed to play Division I hockey at Long Island University in the lead-up to the weekend.
Less than two minutes later, Joel Lehtinen pounced on a turnover on the wall and found Niklas Ketonen by the near face-off dot. Ketonen skated in all alone and rifled a shot past Johnson on the short side. It was Ketonen’s ninth goal of the season and Lehtinen’s 18th assist.
Small notched his second point of the first period when he pounced on the rebound from an Adam Mahler shot with just over nine minutes to play in the period. It was his sixth goal of the season and Mahler’s ninth assist of the season. In all, the Tauros outshot the Bulls 28-6 in the first period.
It took the Tauros 8:39 into the second to score their fourth goal of the night. Jack O’Hanisain got the puck on the left wing wall and walked in below the faceoff circle and ripped it in short-side for his 14th goal of the season. Colby Woogk notched his eight assist of the season, but the second assist was a historic one.
With his first assist of the game, captain Trevor Stachowiak became the Tauros’ all-time career leader in assists with 67. It was also his 17th assist of the season.
The Bulls snapped the shutout streak for the Tauros and goalie Brady James after a lengthy video review. Tyler Starich got credited for the goal that trickled in after contact between James and one of his defenders.
However, the Tauros only took just over a minute to retake a four-goal lead, and it was thanks to the captain. Cayden Casey skated down the right wing before sending a beautiful backhand saucer pass cross-ice to Stachowiak who lifted a backhand shot over Johnson’s shoulder. It was Casey’s 12th assist of the season and Stachowiak’s seventh goal of the season.
The game took an ugly turn with just over four minutes left in the period as Muller and the Bulls’ Jackson Schouten came together in the neutral zone in what looked to be a fairly harmless situation. However, Schouten grabbed Muller and threw a haymaker that bloodied and dropped Muller. The Tauros responded, but cooler heads did prevail shortly thereafter. John Small did receive a 10-minute unsportstmanlike penalty for his role after the fact, but Schouten was assessed a five-minute major for fighting and a game misconduct and was subsequently ejected from the game.
The Tauros took advantage of the extended power play with two goals before the end of the second period. With just over a minute and a half remaining, O’Hanisain zipped a pass from below the face-off dot to Johnson’s left cross-ice to Nick Sewecke who crashed the crease at the far post and scored. It was Sewecke’s fourth goal of the season and O’Hanisain’s 15th assist.
Then right before the buzzer sounded, Stachowiak found Casey in the slot to make it 9-1. It was Stachowiak’s 18th assist on the season and Casey’s third goal of the season. The Tauros outshot the Bulls again in the second period, this time 23-6.
With just under eight minutes gone in the third, Pavol Funtek notched his second goal of the season with assists from John Emmons and Stachowiak. It was Emmons’ ninth helper of the season and Stachowiak’s 19th. It also set the career assist mark for a Tauro player at 69.
Less than two minutes later, O’Hanisain notched his second of the night when he skated through traffic and snapped a shot through a screen to give Johnson no chance. Ketonen got his 16th assist of the season while Lehtinen added his 20th.
The Tauros made a switch in net after scoring their ninth goal of the night, giving some valuable ice time to Charlie Durkin. James finished the night with 15 saves on 16 shots, and Durkin saved the only shot he faced.
In the other net, Johnson finished the night with 57 saves, a new record for a Tauro opponent. The 66 shots he faced is also a record for the Tauros.
Friday night started much the same way en route to a 5-0 win for the Tauros. Just over five minutes into the game, Ketonen skated down the left wing on the power play, and as the penalty killers for the Bulls collapsed on him, he found Lehtinen in the high slot. Lehtinen ripped it home to give the Tauros a 1-0 lead. Rylan Jockims also picked up an assist, his 11th of the year.
Just over two minutes later, Emmons finds Stachowiak camped out in front of the crease. Casey also tallied an assist on the goal. It took less than a minute before the Tauros added their third goal of the game when Mahler’s shot snuck in. Lehtinen and O’Hanisain added assists.
Will Dawson made it 4-0 before the game was 10 minutes old with a laser of a backhand after Stachowiak slipped him the puck through traffic. It was Dawson’s sixth of the season. The Bulls pulled their starting goaltender for Santo Simmchen who finished the night with eight saves on 12 shots and brought Johnson in. The Tauros outshot the Bulls 20-4 in the first period.
Lehtinen would make it 5-0 just over eight minutes into the second. Ketonen gathered the puck low in the offensive zone and skated back up to the blue line before dishing it off to Jockims. Jockims spotted Lehtinen all by himself on the goal line and zipped a pass. Lehtinen skated up to the crease and fired it home before any defender could stop him. That would be the final goal of the game as Johnson would stop 35 of the 36 shots he faced over the final two and a half periods. James stopped all 15 shots he faced for the Tauros.
On the special teams front, the Tauros went 4 for 13 on the power play while going a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
Next up the Tauros get some time off for the NAHL Christmas Break. The team returns to the ice on December 29th and 30th against the Bismarck Bobcats before heading down to Bismarck on New Year’s Eve. Tickets for both games are available in the Tauros Hockey Tauros Hockey Mobile App, through the “Tickets” tab atop this page, or by visiting the Tauros ticketing site.