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Edward Nieman, www.minotauroshockey.com For the third weekend in a row, the Minotauros found themselves taking the ice in front of their home crowd on the Pepsi Rink at Maysa Arena as they looked to build on a weekend sweep over the Minnesota Mallards the previous weekend. This past weekend presented the opportunity for the Tauros to punch their ticket to the Robertson Cup Playoffs as the race for playoff position in the Central Division remained tight. Friday night opened with the Tauros picking up right where they left off as Noah Gibbs potted his second goal as a Tauro just over three minutes into the action. Gibbs was able to fire one in from the slot off a feed from Landon Fleming to give Minot the early advantage on Family Weekend. Six minutes later North Iowa would respond. The equalizing goal would find its way past Lukas Swedin as Parker Osborn hammered one home off a feed from below the goal line from the stick of Denis Hodas to make it 1-1 with just over ten minutes to play in the opening period. That score would hold until the horn sounded to signal the end of the first period. Through the first 20 minutes of action on the Pepsi Rink shots on goal were even at ten aside. The second period would commence with a flurry of opportunities in favor of the Bulls as the Tauros were sent shorthanded twice within the opening few minutes. Despite not cashing in on either power-play chance, North Iowa was able to seize momentum as Eli Miller netted the go-ahead goal 11:52 into the middle period on his eighth of the season which gave the Bulls the lead for the first time of the night. Minutes later it was Vince Kalscheur extending the Bulls’ lead making it 3-1 as he put one past Swedin’s glove side from deep in the slot for the second Bulls’ goal of the period. The Bulls would carry that lead into the second intermission as they outshot the Tauros 18-9 in the second frame. The first eight minutes would tick off the clock to begin the final period of regulation without any action in the scoring column on the Pepsi Rink as the Bulls looked to remain in control for a much-needed win. It would be Gavin Middendorf changing that just over twelve minutes into the period as he cut the North Iowa lead in half on a goal that was fired in from the right-wing side beating Bulls’ netminder Jack Hirshorn over the blocker. The goal for Middendorf would count as his 29th on the season with assists credited to the defensive pair of Jordan Gibbs and Ty James for their 15th and 14th helpers of the season. Under a minute later it would be Noah Gibbs finding the back of the net as he tipped one home through traffic in front of the net for his second of the night as Minot pulled back even with North Iowa. Gibbs’ goal would be enough to send the Friday night contest into OT as the score would remain deadlocked for the final six minutes of regulation following the equalizing goal by Gibbs. Just over 40 seconds into the overtime period Adam Mahler would complete the comeback for the Tauros firing a one-timer into the back of the net to secure the win for Minot good for their 38th victory of the season. Along with the win, the Tauros also clinched a playoff berth as they continued their quest up the Central Division standings. Following the Friday night games Minot remained just one point back of in-state rival Bismarck Bobcats for the top spot in the division. Saturday night would bring more back-and-forth action on the Pepsi Rink as the Tauros and Bulls closed out the regular season series. It was North Iowa potting the first goal of the night as Denis Hodas put one past Will Mizenko’s left side from the right wing to make it 1-0 just over nine minutes into the action. North Iowa would add another prior to the period’s end as Sangyeob Kim netted his 19th of the season off assists from Jack Seaverson and Cole Wirun to extend the Bulls’ lead with just over two minutes to play before the intermission. Despite the deficit, the Tauros outshot the Bulls 20-13 through the first 20 minutes. Landon Fleming would cut the North Iowa lead in half 7:16 into the second period as he netted his seventh goal of the season putting the Tauros on the board for the first time on the night. That momentum wouldn’t last long however as North Iowa responded with a goal of their own to restore the two-goal lead. The goal, which would mark the Bulls’ third of the night, would be credited to Michael Malatino for his 16th marker of the year. The Bulls would once again carry a two-goal lead into the intermission as the game remained at 3-1 in favor of the Bulls after 40 minutes of play on the Pepsi Rink. Through the first two periods the North Iowa penalty kill unit held the Tauros’ power play unit to a scoreless 0/4. The third period would open with a flurry of goals with the first coming off the stick of Billy Batten. The goal for Batten would cut the deficit back to one as Batten extended his point streak to 12 games on his 20th goal of the year. 30 seconds later North Iowa would swiftly respond to regain a two-goal lead over the Tauros as Cole Wirun hammered home a rebound on the left wing for the fourth Bulls’ goal on the night. That goal would come with 16:08 remaining in regulation. The Bulls would add an empty netter courtesy of Fuji Suzuki to cap off a 5-2 win on Saturday night to secure a series split to finish the regular season series. Following the weekend split against the Bulls, the Tauros record moves to 38-12-1 as they sit tied with Austin at 77 points in the divisional race. With a weekend sweep over the Norsemen, the Bobcats hold a three-point advantage over both the Tauros and Bruins for first place in the Central Division. Next weekend the Tauros will hit the road again as they travel down the Austin to take on the Bruins in what will be the first half of two straight weekends against Austin. As always, all Tauros’ games can be watched live on NATV with a free live audio broadcast available on the Tauros’ YouTube and Facebook pages. The Tauros will return home again on March 28th & 29th to take on the Austin Bruins on the Pepsi Rink at Maysa Arena. Tickets for that series and all Tauros’ home games can be purchased on the Tauros online ticketing site. |
