Weekend Recap November 15th & 16th
November 17, 2024 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Minot Minotauros News Release
The Tauros took the ice for the second straight weekend at home on the Pepsi Rink as rival Aberdeen Wings made their first trip to the Magic City this season in a series that saw the Tauros find much success through the two-game set.
The Wings entered the weekend in third place in the division with an 11-4 record after coming off a weekend split on the road in Austin while the Tauros were coming off a series split of their own a week ago against the St. Cloud Norsemen.
Both teams took the ice on Friday night amidst a tight early-season Central Division race with the separation between the two teams only being a handful of points.
Friday night proved to be a dominant performance for Minot as they cruised to a 4-0 win in perhaps the most all-around prepotent showing of the season thus far in all facets of the game.
The scoring kicked off in the first period courtesy of a goal coming off the stick of John Small on a rebounded puck off the pad of Wings' netminder Damon Cunningham to give the Tauros the 1-0 lead just 4:31 into the first period of the affair.
Just under seven minutes later, it was Tauros' third-year forward Jack O'Hanisain tacking on another for the Tauros to make it 2-0. Assists on O'Hanisain's goal came credit of Kevin Perrault and Jesse Juhola for their first and ninth assists of the year respectively.
That lead would hold until the first intermission as the Tauros outshot the Wings 11-4 through 20 minutes of play in front of the home crowd.
The Tauros' success would continue through the remaining 40 minutes of play as the Tauros would outshoot the Wings 27-10 in the latter two periods.
In the second period, it was Ian Spencer hammering home a loose puck in front of the Wings' net to extend the Tauros lead making 3-0 good for Spencer's seventh goal of the year with assists being credited to Cabulis and Small.
Spencer wouldn't be done yet though as a second goal of the night for him came 6:09 in the third frame on a power-play opportunity for the Tauros that was triggered off an Aberdeen high-sticking penalty.
With the goal, Spencer moved into the sole team point-leader position with 20, as the Tauros notched their tenth win on the year in the 4-0 victory over the Wings to take the first meeting between the two teams this season.
Will Mizenko finished the night saving a perfect 14 of 14 shots faced for his first shutout in a Tauro uniform moving his record to 3-1-1 on the season.
Saturday night would bring much of the same success for the Tauros as they found themselves once again dominating the scoreboard with five goals on the night following a scoreless first period.
The scoring wouldn't commence for the Tauros until 7:07 into the second period when Adam Mahler netted the first of the night, his fourth of the year, on a goal that would open the scoring floodgates sending a packed Maysa Arena into pandemonium.
The next Tauro goal would come nearly 7 minutes later off the stick of Tauros' defenseman Jordan Gibbs for his first of the year with assists coming from the newest Tauro forward Parker Newman and John Small.
The Tauros would finish the second period with a 2-0 lead over the Wings despite getting outshot 25-20 through 40 minutes of play on the ice.
The third period would bring even more scoring in favor of the Tauros courtesy of Billy Batten, Leo Cabulis, and Ian Spencer as the Tauros would put the icing on the cake on a near-perfect weekend with a 5-0 win over the Wings to obtain their first home weekend sweep of the year and their 11th win of the season.
Lucas Swedin would complete the weekend shutout for the Tauros as he saved a perfect 31 of 31 shots faced for his second shutout this season. With the win his record for the year moves to 8-3 putting him amongst some of the best in the NAHL.
The weekend sweep for the Tauros moved them into fourth place position in the Central Division as they leapfrogged the Wings with the two wins finishing the weekend with 23 points.
Next up the Tauros will travel to Forest Lake Minnesota to take on the Minnesota Mallards for the first time in franchise history. Puck drop for Friday & Saturday night is slated for 7:00 PM inside the Forest Lake Sport Center. The games will be broadcasted live on NATV, with free audio coverage available on the Tauros' YouTube and Facebook pages.
The Tauros return home next on November 29th & 30th to take on the Watertown Shamrocks. Tickets for those games can be purchased at tickets.minotauroshockey.com. Puck drop for those games is scheduled for 7:35 PM at Maysa Arena.
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North American Hockey League Stories from November 17, 2024
- Last Home Game Day Of The Year - Anchorage Wolverines
- Bruins Sweep Mallards with 5-3 Win Saturday - Austin Bruins
- Wings Drop Two to Minot over the Away Weekend - Aberdeen Wings
- Cole Christian Secures Two Goals, Danny Bagnole 'Bags' One in Wolverines Win - Anchorage Wolverines
- Weekend Recap November 15th & 16th - Minot Minotauros
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