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Edward Nieman, www.minotauroshockey.com
The Minotauros and Bobcats squared off this weekend on the Pepsi Rink, as Minot looked for its first victory over Bismarck this season with a chance to close the gap in the divisional standings. Meanwhile, the Bobcats were looking to bounce back after being swept by the Bruins last weekend.
The weekend set between the two teams marked the fourth and fifth time they met in the past ten games. The series would be the last time the Tauros and Bobcats shared the ice until the final weekend of the regular season in early April.
Friday night provided a seesawing contest between the two in-state rivals, as 60 minutes would prove to be not even enough to decide a victor.
The Bobcats would be the ones to draw first blood just under seven minutes into the opening period’s action as Oscar Jonsson feathered one past Tauros’ netminder Chase Anderson to grab the early 1-0 lead.
That goal would prove to be all the scoring that the first period had to offer as the Tauros would arrive at the first intermission trailing by one.
Shots on goal after 20 minutes of play on the Pepsi Rink favored Bismarck, 13-7.
The second period would belong to the Tauros as they’d add a pair of scores to kickstart the packed Maysa Arena crowd.
The first of which would come with 6:09 remaining in the middle stanza when Volodymyer Naumenko would take advantage of a Minot power play, firing one into the back of the cage to pull the game even at aces.
The Tauros would grab their first lead of the weekend with under 20 seconds left to play in the middle stanza as Davin Nichols would tip one home off an offensive zone faceoff for his third of the season.
The goal for Nichols would be enough to give the Tauros the lead heading into the second intermission on Friday night.
Through 40 minutes of play, the Tauros led 2-1 despite getting outshot on the scoreboard, 27-17.
Less than three minutes into the third and final period of regulation, it was Dennis Lominac finding space along the left wing on a breakaway as he put one past Anderson to even the score, setting up for a chaotic finish.
Minutes later, it was Cooper Williams finding nylon for the Bobcats’ second unanswered goal on Williams’ team-leading 31st goal of the season. The goal for Williams would extend his streak of games scoring a goal to seven straight as Bismarck regained the lead.
With 11:22 left to play in regulation, the Tauros would find an answer; this time, it was Dane Ramirez. Ramirez was able to tip in a puck off an initial shot from Jax Warren to knot the game right back up as the score stood, 3-3.
The goal for Ramirez was his tenth of the season, with assists credited to Warren and Naumenko for their eighth and third assists, respectively.
Shortly later, the lead would swing back into Minot’s favor as Evan Foiles steered back around the Bismarck cage before eventually backhanding home a wraparound shot to make it 4-3 with 6:27 left to go in regulation.
The goal for Foiles marked his third of the season and first non-overtime game-winning goal of the year.
In what shaped up to be a rather strange sequence, with under two minutes to play in regulation, resulting in Bismarck going to the extra-man advantage.
The initial call would be on Luca Ryen for hooking for two minutes, with an additional penalty assessed to Bobcats’ netminder Dane Callaway for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The unsportsmanlike conduct call would be taillied 10 minute misconduct penalty, keeping the Bobcats on the power play.
Bismarck would take advantage, as George Poirier would light the lamp, firing a one-timer in from close quarters near the goal line to revive the Bobcats’ hopes. The goal would come with just 1:58 remaining in regulation, once again restoring the tie game.
Despite a handful of penalties down the stretch, that’s all the scoring the final period of regulation would have to offer, as three periods would not prove to be enough.
The Friday night OT game would mark the second straight for the Tauros, who were coming off a shootout victory the Saturday prior.
In overtime, it was Bismarck.
Eddie Revenig would be the hero for the Bobcats, beating Anderson blocker-side to seal the Bobcats 25th win of the season and keeping their perfect record against the Tauros intact, improving to 5-0-0.
In net getting the win was Dane Callaway as he saved 20 of 24 shots faced advancing his record to 13-5-2 on the season.
Saturday night would come, granting the Tauros another opportunity to get revenge against their in-state rival on home ice.
It was the Tauros being the ones to strike first on Saturday night as third-year defenseman Ty James took advantage and cashed in on an early power play opportunity just under three minutes into the first period.
The opening goal would mark James’ seventh of the season and seventh point in his last six games.
After 20 minutes of play on the Pepsi Rink on Saturday night, the Tauros would hold a 1-0 lead over the Bobcats despite being outshot, 15-10.
Second-period action would pick up 2:08 into the frame when Oscar Johnsson would find twine for the second time on the weekend, threading one past Brian Cooke to get Bismarck on the board on Saturday night.
Following that up was Briggs Knott as he would pull the Tauros back ahead on his fourth goal of the year, much to the delight of the packed house inside Maysa Arena.
Knott’s goal would make it 2-1 in favor of the Tauros with 16:01 remaining in the middle stanza.
With 2:29 left to play in the second period, the Bobcats would be sent shorthanded as Denis Lomiac would be whistled for high-sticking, sending the Tauros back to the extra-man advantage.
The Taurous would take advantage.
It was Philip Wiklund finding himself in a perfect position, squarely in the slot as he tapped home a pass from Ivan Sidorov to double the Minot lead.
Heading into the second intermission, the Tauros were leading the Bobcats 3-1 in spite of the Bobcats’ shot differential being ten at 26-16 through 40 minutes of play in the Magic City.
The Bobcats would claw back in the third period with a pair of goals coming from Ben Rakowski and Oscar Johnsson for their ninth and third goals of the season, respectively, tying the game up at three goals apiece.
The final horn of regulation would sound with both teams remaining tied through 60 minutes.
Despite it being the second straight night going to overtime between the two teams, it wasn’t completely deja vu.
On Saturday night, it was the Tauros walking it off in the extra session as Ty James was the hero, notching his second goal of the night and ninth of the season, sending the Tauros fans inside Maysa Arena into pandemonium.
James’ goal secured the Tauros their first win over the Bobcats this season and pulled Minot within three points of the top half of the division heading into an all-important weekend series against the Watertown Shamrocks next weekend.
Getting the win in net for Minot was Brian Cooke, as his record improved to 10-5-1 on the season, saving 33 of 36 shots faced en route to the Saturday night win.
Next weekend, the Tauros will begin a three-week road trip that will include trips to Watertown, Aberdeen, and Watford City before returning home to the Pepsi Rink at Maysa Arena on February 20th & 21st, when they will take on the Shamrocks.
Tickets for those games and all Tauros’ home games can be purchased on the Tauros’ online ticketing site.
And as always, all Tauros’ home and road games can be viewed live on NATV along with a free live audio broadcast available on the Tauros’ YouTube, Facebook, and Mixlr pages.
To stay most up to date with all things Minotauros, be sure to tune into Tauros All Access with Olivia Tosto and Preslie Davis Mondays -Thursdays at 3 PM on the Tauros Facebook and YouTube pages.
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