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NAHL Minot Minotauros

Weekend Recap January 24-25

January 25, 2025 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Minot Minotauros News Release


At long last, the Tauros were back on home ice at Maysa Arena following two weekends on the road in the month of January. Amid a tightening Central Division race, the Tauros were presented with an opportunity to climb up in the standings as they took on the Watertown Shamrocks for the second-weekend series this season.

Entering the weekend, the Tauros were looking to build on a five-game winning streak against a Shamrocks team that they swept earlier this season in November. This weekend also marked the first of two straight weekends against Watertown, with a series on the road against them next weekend still to come.

Friday night brought scoring in bunches which started early on to the delight of a packed Maysa Arena crowd.

It was Gavin Middendorf finding the back of the net early on, cashing in on a Tauros' extra-man advantage to grab an early 1-0 lead. The goal for Middendorf marked his eighth goal in as many games in Minot good for his 17th overall marker on the season.

Just 30 seconds later Landon Fleming added on to the Tauros lead notching his fifth goal of the year to get the Tauros early separation from the Shamrocks with a two-goal lead just over eight minutes into the first period.

Ian Spencer would add another goal prior to the conclusion of the first period to make it 3-0 heading into the first intermission. Assists on Spencer's goal came courtesy of Braedon Jockims and Chuck Owens.

The second period would provide fans inside Maysa Arena with even more Tauros' goals as they continued to pour it on in the Friday night contest.

John Small would find nylon first in the second period for the Tauros off a goal on a 2-on-1 rush giving him his 16th marker of the season to make it 4-0 in favor of Minot.

O'Hanisain would then leave his mark on the period netting two consecutive goals for the Tauros' fifth and sixth goals of the night good for his 13th and 14th of the season. The two goals brought O'Hanisain within one point shy of tying Trevor Stachowiak for the Tauros' all-time point record.

The 6-0 lead would hold as the second-period horn sounded with 40 minutes in the books. Through two periods of play, Minot outshot Watertown by a commanding margin of 27-11.

The Tauros would tack on two more goals before it was all said and done courtesy of Billy Batten and Gavin Middendorf in the third period for their 17th and 18th goals of the season.

Watertown would get one back late in the third period on a power play, but it wouldn't be enough as the Tauros cruised to an 8-1 victory, their 26th win of the year. With the win, the Tauros also leapfrogged the Bruins for second place in the Central Division.

Lukas Swedin got the win on Friday night saving 19 of 20 shots faced as his record improved to 19-7 with the win.

Saturday night would bring a far more competitive contest with each team grabbing the lead as they traded blows through three periods of play.

The first period of play would come and go without seeing any scoring to begin Saturday night. The period proved to be as even as it gets with both teams firing ten shots on net each through 20 minutes of play.

Following the first intermission, the floodgates would open as both teams found the back of the net.

It was John Small who netted the first of the period on his second goal of the weekend tipping one past Shamrocks netminder Phileas Lachat off an initial shot from Middendorf to grab the 1-0 lead.

The Shamrocks would answer though as Alexander Visnapuu tied things up just two minutes later getting one past Lukas Swedin with 11:50 to play in the period. The goal for Visnapuu would be his first of the year as Watertown pulled even at aces.

Just over a minute later Watertown would net another goal, this time off the stick of Zach Boren to gain their first lead of the weekend on Boren's fourth goal of the year with 10:15 to go in the middle period.

The Tauros would restore the tie quickly though as Gavin Middendorf found twine again for the third time on the weekend to pull the game back even at 2-2. That goal was good for Middendorf's 19th of the year and tenth in nine games as a Tauro.

Before the period would end it was Braeden Jockims netting his first goal as a Tauro in a clutch moment to give the Tauros a 3-2 lead following what was much of a back-and-fourth second period.

With Jockims scoring it would mark the seventh different Tauro to score a goal on the weekend and good for the 11th combined goal on the weekend for Minot.

Through 40 minutes of play, the Tauros outshot the Shamrocks 21-16 as Minot once again found themselves playing with the lead at the end of the second period.

Jockims' goal would prove to be the game-winning goal as no more scoring would take place in the third and final period on the Pepsi Rink. The Shamrocks would push back in the third period outshooting the Tauros 10-8 in the final frame but couldn't solve Tauro netminder Lukas Swedin.

The win for the Tauros would elevate them to 27-6-1 on the season, maintaining their second place standing in the division. Following the weekend the Tauros find themselves just five points behind the Central Division-leading Bismarck Bobcats.

The Tauros are back in action this Friday night at the Prairie Lakes Ice Arena in Watertown South Dakota as they make that trip for the first time this season. This upcoming weekend will serve as the first half of back-to-back weekends on the road for the Tauros as they'll travel to Mason City the following weekend.

As always, Tauros' games can be streamed live on NATV with a free live audio broadcast available on the Tauros' Facebook and YouTube pages.

The Tauros will return home once again on February 14th to take on the Bismarck Bobcats at 7:35 PM. Tickets to that game and all Tauro home games can be purchased on the Tauros' online ticketing site.

Edward Nieman, www.minotauroshockey.com

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