photo credit: John Davis, sdsportscene.com
By: Andrew Lennox
Aberdeen, SD – After a Thanksgiving weekend series, spit in the Magic City, the Minot Minotauros once again had to face the Aberdeen Wings, but this time, they were on the road at the Odde Ice Arena in Aberdeen.
In Friday’s contest, the action started with Minot earning an early power play opportunity. Wings netminder Croix Kochendorfer was called for roughing. Unfortunately for the Tauros, Aberdeen would strike first with a shorthanded marker as Leonid Bulgakov netted his 11th goal of the season 3:26 into the first frame. Minot would counter with Trevor Stachowiak, hammering home a rebound on a John Small shot taken from the point with 11:49 left in the period.
Aberdeen would soon take a 2-1 lead. Nikolai Tishkevich beat Tauros’ starting goalie, Brady James, midway through the first frame. The Wings would add to their goal count when Zach Relm sniped from the high slot, scoring on James for his first marker. After allowing three goals on 12 shots, James was pulled in favor of James Norton. The scoring continued in period one with Jack O’Hanisian blasting a shot from the top of circles, scoring on Kochendorfer top corner blocker side at 17:19 for his 11th goal in this year’s campaign. Niklas Ketonen and Colby Woogk provided the assists.
6:36 into the second, the Tauros John Small would tie it up at 3-3, scoring five-hole on Kochendorfer off a beautiful feed from Stachowiack. The tally was Smalls’s fourth of the season. Gibbs earned the secondary assist. Despite Minot outshooting Aberdeen 13-6, the period ended with a 3-3 score.
Only one more tally was recorded in the contest, and it came with 10:20 left in regulation. Ketonon collected his second point Friday, scoring his seventh goal in 2023 to put the Tauros on top 4-3. Lehtinen and O’Hanisian grabbed the assists. Aberdeen tried to rally, but Norton made massive saves down the stretch to earn the victory after replacing James in the first frame.
At 10:13 of the first period Saturday, Aberdeen jumped to a 1-0 lead thanks to Isak Holmstrom beating a sprawling Norton. Seven minor penalties were called during the first, but only one power play opportunity resulted in a goal. John Small was responsible for the tally as he collected his power play marker while beating a diving Adam Dybal late in the period on the backhand.
No goals were scored during period two despite each team getting a chance with the man advantage. There was not another goal scored until 11 minutes left in regulation as Salvatore Collora recorded his first marker of the season, putting the Wings on top 2-1. With 1:29 left on the clock, Minot pulled Norton in favor of an extra attacker. This led Aberdeen to score an empty net goal, making it 3-1.
Minot drew a penalty with 42 seconds left in regulation, which resulted in a power play strike from Woogk. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, as Minot lost to Aberdeen 3-2. The teams end the weekend by splitting the two-game series for the second straight weekend.
Next up, the Tauros head to Austin, MN, to take on the Bruins next Friday and Saturday nights. Then the Tauros close out the unofficial first half of the season at home against North Iowa on December 15th and 16th. The game on December 16th will be the Tauros annual SCHEELS 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.