Weekend Recap Nov 8 & 9
November 10, 2024 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Minot Minotauros News Release
Long last, the Tauros returned home to the Maysa Arena this weekend for the first half of what will prove to be their longest homestand of the year with four straight games on the Pepsi Rink as they took on the St. Cloud Norsemen for the second weekend in a row Friday and Saturday night.
Following a weekend split last weekend in St. Cloud, both the Tauros and Norsemen were looking to pick up wins in what has been a tight Central Division race early in the regular season.
Friday night began with the Tauros starting off quickly with a goal coming courtesy of Ian Spencer just 4:46 into the first period with assists from Juhola and Gibbs, good for Spencer's fifth goal of the season.
Less than a minute later the Norsemen would respond as St. Cloud captain Hudson Blue netted the equalizer just 48 seconds following the Spencer goal to pull things right back to even at one goal apiece.
St. Cloud would add another before the first intermission coming off the stick of Sam Crane giving the Norsemen the 2-1 lead as the game arrived at the first break. Assists on Crane's goal came by way of Tyler Geyer and Tyler Wishart.
The second period wouldn't see any scoring as the Tauros outshot the Norsemen 19 to 11 as they maintained a 29-27 shots on net advantage at the second intermission.
The third period would see a scoring mirage for the Tauros as they worked out of a goal deficit entering the period.
The first of which came from Jack O'Hanisain on a breakaway off a neutral zone takeaway deep towards the Tauro defensive zone. O'Hanisain would thread a backhanded shot through to beat the Norsemen's netminder, Beck Liden, to his right side to once again pull the game even.
The go-ahead goal for the Tauros would come from forward Landon Flemming, a recent acquisition from the Oklahoma Warriors, as he notched his first in a Tauros jersey off a feed from Jack O'Hanisain.
The Tauros would put the icing on the cake as Ian Spencer netted an empty net goal with 51 seconds remaining in regulation to close out a 4-2 victory for the Tauros in front of their home crowd on Friday night.
Tauro goaltender Lucas Swedin would end the night saving 33 of 35 shots faced for his seventh win on the year. Norsemen netminder Beck Liden would also turn in a solid night's work saving 33 of 36 shots on net.
Saturday would prove to have much of the same back-and-forth action as another close game would be in store in the Great River Rivalry.
Much like Friday night, the Tauros would once again strike first, this time from the Tauros' goal & point leader Jesse Juhola as he added his ninth marker of the season with helpers coming from Chuck Owens and Jack O'Hanisain for their second and fourteenth assists.
Later in the period, it would be Krisjanis Sarts netting his first goal of the season for St. Cloud off a shot that beat Swedin through the five-hole to even the game up minutes before the first intermission.
The scoring would pick up in bunches in the second period as a total of four goals were scored, two for each team.
It was Carter Lundie who got the scoring party started in the period finding back of the net just over eight minutes into the period as the Norsemen would take their second lead of the weekend over the Tauros.
Minot would respond however off of two goals from second year returning forward John Small. The two goals would count for his eighth and ninth as the Tauros would see-saw the lead back in their favor with under three minutes to play in the period.
Just over a minute later however the Norsemen would even it back up at three as Alex Sandhu hammered home a redirected puck into the back of the net for his first goal of the year, good for his sixth point.
In the third period, the game-winner would come from Bronson Hunt to seal the deal as the Norsemen salvaged a series split before heading home with a 3-2 victory over the Tauros.
The Norsemen would also outshoot the Tauros on Saturday night 41-20 to cap off a series that saw a combined 133 shots fired on net between the two teams.
Next up, the Tauros will take on the Aberdeen Wings for the first time this year on November 15th & 16th on the Pepsi Rink at Maysa Arena. Tickets for these games can be purchased on the Tauros' online ticketing site. Puck drop is set for 7:35 PM on both Friday and Saturday. The games will be broadcasted on NATV, with free audio coverage available on the Tauros' YouTube and Facebook pages.
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- Weekend Recap Nov 8 & 9 - Minot Minotauros
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