Austin, MN – The Minotauros were red hot coming into the postseason winners of five of their final six games to wrap up the regular season. Three of those wins came at the expense of the Austin Bruins who would turn out to be the Tauros first round opponent as the Robertson Cup Playoffs opened this weekend. Unfortunately for the Tauros the Bruins found a way to cool the Tauros and jump out to a 2-0 series lead before the series shifts back to Minot next Friday.
Both nights the Tauros were done in by their penalty kill which allowed three goals in each contest including the first goal of each game. Falling behind put the Tauros in chase mode early in both games. The Tauros did answer with three power play goals of their own over the weekend but ultimately their 3/12 was not enough to make up for allowing the Bruins to go 6/10 on the man advantage.
On a positive note Chase LaPinta and Braden Fischer each had two goals and LaPinta added two assists as well. On Friday night Weston Knox became just the third Tauro to post three assists in one playoff game.
The task at hand now matches the one that faced the Tauros two weeks ago. With their backs against the wall they needed to win three in a row over the Bruins to get into the playoffs, they did that. Now once again the Tauros need to win three in a row over the Bruins to extend their season; it starts with Game Three Friday night in Minot.
Tickets for that game are still available by clicking the “Tickets” tab atop this page or by visiting tickets.minotauroshockey.com.