St. Cloud, MN – The Tauros hit the road and took on the hottest team in the Central Division this weekend earning a weekend split with the St. Cloud Norsemen. The Norsemen had not lost in regulation since January 14th against the Austin Bruins winning eight of their last nine contests and losing the other in a shootout. The Tauros meanwhile entered the weekend having dropped four of their previous five contests and looking to bounce back.
Friday night they did just that with a convincing win over the Norsemen a 3-0 shutout victory. Kolby Amici opened the scoring with his first goal as a Tauro just 1:15 into the contest. Lawton Zacher carried the Tauros from there stopping all 39 shots he would face. Zacher was especially important early as the Tauros were outshot 30-13 through the first two periods and had to kill four St. Cloud power plays through the first two periods. The Tauros would play better in the third winning the shot battle 12-9 and tacking on a pair of insurance goals. First Joe Blackley netted his third of the season on a blast from the top of the left circle and then Ben Johnson would add an empty netter in the final minute to push it to a 3-0 final.
Saturday night the Norsemen flipped the script as they came out an struck early on the rush. Anthony Ruklic found his third of the season as the Norsemen beat Zacher for the first time all weekend. Cam Boche drew the Tauros even however in the middle portion of the period with his seventh of the season. The second period however belonged to the Norsemen and Daniels Murnieks who scored twice to give the Norsemen a 3-1 lead heading into the final frame. Early in the third Kade Peterson was left alone on the doorstep and banged home a rebound to make it 4-1 Norsemen and seemingly ice the game away. Hunter Longhi would pick up his 11th point and first goal against the Norsemen this season with 7:32 to play but the Tauros would not draw any closer.
Next up the Tauros finish their season series with the Bismarck Bobcats starting Friday in Bismarck before moving back to Minot on Saturday night. Tickets for that game and all remaining home games are available through the “Tickets” tab atop this page or by visiting tickets.minotauroshockey.com.