By Jeremy Pike, minotauroshockey.com
MINOT, ND – Two games, two wins. The Minot Minotauros swept the Aberdeen Wings by identical 4-1 scores this weekend to draw within a game of clinching a playoff spot. Colby Bear and Chad Muller each had two goals on the weekend while Muller and Will Dawson each had three points.
The first period of Saturday night’s tilt had one especially nerve-wracking moment midway through. Only 29 seconds after John Emmons got called for holding, Trevor Stachowiak joined him in the box for slashing. Moments like those can either kill a team or help lift them further.
The Tauros successfully killed the two penalties along with one more before the end of the period. They also broke the deadlock before the whistle blew on the period as well. With only 35 seconds remaining, Jack O’Hanisain netted the first goal of the game. Ian Spencer picked up the puck at center ice and spotted O’Hanisain near the Wings’ blue line. Spencer sent O’Hanisain in on a breakaway and O’Hanisain deked before putting the puck over Wings goalie Adam Dybal’s glove. That was the 25th goal of the season for O’Hanisain. Spencer picked up his ninth assist while John Emmons got the secondary assist, his 14th of the season.
The game went into overdrive about halfway through the second period. The Tauros sustained pressure, much as they had all game, and Colby Woogk put a shot toward the net that led to a loose puck in the crease. Muller pounced and flipped it home 10:07 into the period for his 13th goal of the season. Woogk picked up his 19th assist and Cayden Casey added his 16th helper.
22 seconds later, the Tauros went on the power play as Zach Reim got called for kneeing on a bad hit at the Tauros blueline. Jordan Gibbs went after Reim and Matthew Wisener responded. All three went to the box, and it took the Tauros 28 seconds to capitalize on the power play.
John Small got the puck near the Wings’ blue line and found Niklas Ketonen above the left faceoff circle. Ketonen dragged the puck past a closing defender and got into the high slot. He fired it past Dybal to make it 3-0 for his 14th goal of the season. Small picked up his 19th assist and Muller added his 14th.
41 seconds later, Bear got called for roughing and put the Tauros down a man. He would make up for it, though. After the Tauros killed the penalty, Emmons spotted Bear coming out of the box and heading for the Wings’ blue line. Emmons hit him with a stretch pass and sent Bear in on a breakaway. Bear made no mistake and made it 4-0 with his eighth of the season. It was Emmons’ 15th assist and Dawson got his 16th helper.
The Tauros outshot the Wings 15-7 in the period and had doubled them up 30-15 through two periods.
The Wings pushed back in the third with their best period of the entire weekend. Riley Sharun broke Lukas Swedin’s shutout streak with a goal with 13:46 gone in the period. That would be the only goal in a period where the Tauros narrowly outshot the Wings 12-11. Swedin finished the game with 25 saves on 26 shots while Dybal allowed four goals on 42 shots.
Friday night got off to a good start when Weston Knox fired a shot from the point that made it through traffic and into the back of the net 7:05 into the game. It was his third goal of the season. Jordan Gibbs added his fifth assist and Muller got the secondary assist. It was the only goal of the period, and the Tauros outshot the Wings 10-8.
With just under 12 minutes played in the second, Nick Sewecke doubled the Tauros’ lead. Trevor Stachowiak sent John Small up the right wing who carried the puck deep. Small slipped a pass in front of the hard-charging Sewecke who tipped the puck bar down past Wings goalie Croix Kochendorfer. It was Sewecke’s 12th goal of the season. Stachowiak added his 28th assist of the season.
With just over two minutes remaining in the period, Will Dawson led a rush up ice on the left wing. He spotted Colby Bear who jumped into the rush late in the high slot. Bear walked in and fired it home for his seventh goal of the season. Tauros goalie Brady James also picked up his first assist of the season.
The Tauros dominated the period and outshot the Wings 12-3. That gave the Tauros a 22-11 advantage through two.
The Wings got one back halfway through the period when Luke Backel poked home a loose puck in the crease.
The Tauros got another crack at the power play when Nick Comfort got called for cross-checking 10:41 into the period. The Tauros made the Wings pay when Dawson tipped Knox’s shot from the point into the net for his 12th of the season. That was Knox’s 19th assist and Adam Mahler’s secondary assist was his 12th of the season.
James saved 19 of the 20 shots he faced while Kochendorfer allowed four goals on 40 shots.
The Tauros will be back at the Pepsi Rink at Maysa Arena for a rare Tuesday puck drop and the final matchup with the Bismarck Bobcats. Tickets for Tuesday night’s game are available in the Tauros Hockey Mobile App, through the “Tickets” tab atop this page, or by visiting the Tauros ticketing site.