By Sean Williams, www.minotauroshockey.com
This week has a loaded scheduled that features a rare opportunity to play a Tuesday night game at the Pepsi Rink, before the Minot Minotauros hit the road for a weekend series with the sixth place North Iowa Bulls (22 points, 10-36-0 record). Not only is Tuesday night a rare opportunity, but it is also an important one.
Currently, the Minotauros occupy first place in the Central Division with 73 points and a record of 36-12-1. They hold a six-point edge over the Bismarck Bobcats (67 points, 32-13-1 record), who the Minotauros will host at 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday night. With both the Minotauros and Bobcats fighting for their playoff positions, this will be the last time these two teams play before ending the season with four consecutive games against each other to close out the regular season.
At 7:10 p.m. on Friday and at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, the Tauros will face the Bulls at Mason City Arena, where Minot will look to continue their perfect stretch against North Iowa this season. In six games this year, Minot owns a 4-0-0 record against North Iowa. Led by an impressive goal-scoring ability, Minot is averaging 4.66 goals per game against North Iowa and is holding them to just 0.66 goals per game. Additionally, two of those six games have been shutouts and five of them have been decided by three goals or more.
In the season series against the Bulls, the Tauros have five players who are averaging a point per game or better, and they have 15 players who have registered multiple points against the Bulls this year. Joel Lehtinen’s 13 points (5 goals, 8 assists) in six games leads the way, followed by 12 points from Niklas Ketonen (2 goals, 10 assists); 11 points from Jack O’Hanisain (7 goals, 4 assists); and 7 points from Will Dawson (4 goals, 3 assists) and Trevor Stachowiak (2 goals, 5 assists).
The Bulls have had 9 players tally at least one point against the Tauros this year, however, Eli Miller is the only one to have multiple points by way of two assists. Jordan Newpower and Hayden Siegel have both lit the lamp once, while Joe Sweeney, Charles Beland, Jack Seaverson, Tyler Starich, Carter Theissen, and Zach Laurila have all added one assists each.
Starting the week off on the right note is going to be key for the Minotauros as they get ready for a busy schedule. If they are able to pick up at least one point on Tuesday, then they should be in a good position to avoid putting their first place spot in danger during the rest of the weekend due to the overwhelming success they have had against the Bulls this season.
Tickets for tonight’s game and all remaining home games are available in the Tauros Hockey Mobile App, through the “Tickets” tab atop this page, or by visiting the Tauros ticketing site.