Preseason Recap

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Minot Minotauros

Preseason Recap

September 16, 2024 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Minot Minotauros News Release


On Saturday night the Minotauros wrapped up their preseason slate with a final game against St. Cloud in front of their home fans on the Eck Rink as excitement brewed ahead of the beginning of the regular season.

After what felt like an abbreviated offseason due to a deep playoff run, the Tauros hit the ground running against two familiar Central Division foes with preseason series against Bismarck & St. Cloud. The Tauros will now be dealt an off-week prior to making the trip to Blaine for the NAHL Showcase.

The preseason commenced with the 5th annual War in Watford in Watford City against Tauros' North Dakota rival Bismarck Bobcats. This year's series made event history being the first time these two teams squared off in a rematch of the Central Cup in Watford City.

In game one the Tauros picked up right where they left off notching five goals en route to a 5-1 victory over the Bobcats.

The scoring picked up in the second period at the Rough Rider Center as Jack O'Hanisain found the net threading a shot from the wing beating Bismarck netminder Lucas Renaud to give the Tauros the early advantage.

Later in the period, Billy Batten added another to extend the Tauro lead going into the break with Jessie Juhola & Jack Edwards picking up early assists on the new season.

The Tauros added three more in the third period by way of Ian Spencer, Leo Cabulis, and Davin Nichols to punctuate a dominant first preseason performance spearheaded by a handful of returners from last year along with a slew of new faces.

Tauros' goaltending also proved to be solid in game one as they surrendered only one goal to the high-octane offense of Bismarck under first-year head coach Garrett Roth. Gleb Artsatbanov got the start and saved 13 of 14 shots faced through nearly 40 minutes of play. Will Mizenko shut the door in the third period pitching a shutout stopping all 18 shots he faced.

Through both games, both teams shot an even 55 shots on goal.

Come Saturday night, the Bobcats were able to salvage a series split courtesy of a strong performance by goaltender Tomas Anderson. Anderson, who played all three periods, stopped 30 of 30 shots on net as Bismarck topped Minot 4-0.

The following Friday night brought the Tauros back to their old home ice, the Eck Rink, where the Tauros took on the Norsemen in a preseason installment of the Great River Rivalry. Both nights proved to be competitive, getting sent into overtime in consecutive games.

After a scoreless first period, Kevin Perreault got the Tauros on the board off a short-handed goal following a high-sticking call leaving them down a man. The assist off the rush was credited to Davin Nichols as the Tauros grabbed the 1-0 lead.

That lead did not last long, however, as Wes Berg answered for the Norsemen just over a minute later on a power-play tying the game going into the second intermission.

The third period brought more competitive play resulting in a handful of penalties as both teams battled back and forth. Eventually, the horn would sound as both teams were still knotted up at 1-1.

Despite the Tauros beginning the overtime frame on power-play, the five-minute overtime period still wasn't enough to break the tie.

In the shootout, Jesse Juhola put the pressure on early netting a goal in the first round past Norsemen netminder Beck Liden bar-down to give the Tauros the round-one lead.

Gleb Artsatbanov sealed the game, shutting down all three Norsemen shots, good for the Tauros' second win of the preseason.

Despite an early 3-1 lead in game two of the series by way of goals from Barna, Cabulis, and Simchuk, late-game heroics for St. Cloud sent the game into overtime for the second consecutive night. Goals from Kyle Miller and Wyatt Farrell in the final half of the third period proved to be ever-important as the Norsemen looked for the series split.

A late game penalty on the Tauros was costly giving St. Cloud the man advantage entering overtime where Kyle Miller scored his second of the night and the game-winner for St. Cloud just 40 seconds into the period.

Despite the series split the Tauros well outshot the Norsemen, 58-50 to close out their preseason schedule.

With the off-weekend, the Tauros won't see the ice for another game until September 25th in Blaine at the NAHL Showcase where they will square off against the USA Hockey National Development Program Team to kick off their regular season.

The Tauros will return again to the Maysa Arena on October 11th for their home opener to take on the Norsemen on the Pepsi Rink.

Edward Nieman, www.minotauroshockey.com

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