Submitted Photo Tauros forward, Ian Spencer (23), skates up ice in a matchup against the Austin Bruins on Friday, December 20th, 2024, at Maysa Arena. Photo by Patty Bockoven/Minotauros Hockey.

A weekend split in Austin provided little clarity in the Central Division race as the Minotauros and Bruins entered and exited the weekend series tied in second place setting up a pivotal final series between the two teams this weekend in Minot.

The season series was briefly tipped in the Tauros’ favor following a 3-1 win in the Friday night contest. The win marked the Tauros’ third win inside Riverside Arena this season but was subsequently responded to as the Bruins took the weekend finale, 5-0, on Saturday night.

The weekend split sets up a pivotal series this weekend in Minot as the Tauros and Bruins will rematch on the Pepsi Rink at Maysa Arena with playoff implications still at stake. This series will mark the final time these two teams will face off prior to the playoffs.

It was a tale of two games for Minot this past weekend in Minnesota. A Gavin Middendorf hat-trick and Lukas Swedin 50-save performance stole the show on Friday night en route to the 3-1 victory. Despite being outshot 51-29 in the series opener, the Tauros were able to handle the Bruins’ boisterous home crowd, as Ian Spencer and Adam Mahler also picked up two assists in the win.

Saturday night the Bruins pushed back, netting four goals in the opening frame to put Minot in a tough situation entering the final two periods of the weekend. A 5-0 Austin victory on Saturday night tied the season series back up at three games aside while also pulling the Bruins back even with the Minot for second place in the Central Division.

Through 53 games this season, Tauros have maintained a balanced attack up front with Ian Spencer, Jack O’Hanisain, Jesse Juhola, Billy Batten, and Gavin Middendorf all averaging over a point per game at this juncture of the season. Spencer, O’Hanisain, Juhola, and Batten have also all surpassed the 60-point mark on the year.

The Tauros will head back to the Magic City tasked with defending home ice with another opportunity to gain separation with the Bruins in the standings ahead of the final two weekends of the season with series against Aberdeen and Bismarck. On the Pepsi Rink this year, Minot holds an 18-8 record with four of those wins coming in the month of March.

As for the Bruins, they’ll enter this weekend winning three of their last four games against the Tauros including a weekend sweep last time they played on the Pepsi Rink back in December.

Austin’s Saturday night win over Minot featured two goals on four power-play opportunities as the Bruins went a combined 3/8 on the extra-man advantage last weekend. In their last four games, the Bruins have gone 7/16 on the power-play, boosting their season total to 20.37% which is good for the third-best power-play unit in the division.

Luc Malkhassian was the goal-leader for the Bruins last weekend, netting two goals while also picking up an assist for the Saturday night 5-0 win. The Bruins’ point leader, Alex Laurenza, was held off the scoresheet but did account for four assists in the weekend split.

Ashton Bynum also made an impact on the series with a goal and two assists.

Following this weekend in Minot, the Bruins have series remaining against North Iowa and Minnesota making this their last series against a playoff-eligible team.

In net both nights for the Tauros last weekend was Lukas Swedin while the Bruins varied their last line of defense as Jack Solomon started on Friday night as then Carl Axelsson padded all 20 shots away in the Bruins’ Saturday night win.

Similar to last week the numbers primarily favor the Tauros as they enter their second straight weekend matching up against the Bruins.

However, with the Bruins outscoring the Tauros last weekend 6-3, goals-against per game are now even at two goals each on the season.

In net both nights for the Tauros last weekend was Lukas Swedin while the Bruins varied their last line of defense as Jack Soloman started on Friday night as then Carl Axelsson padded all 20 shots away in the Bruins’ Saturday night win.

In special teams, the Tauros lead the Bruins in the power play converting at 23.44% which ranks second in the Central while the Bruins hold the advantage in the penalty kill at a division-best 85.78%.

Including this weekend, there are three regular season home games remaining for the Minotauros. Puck drop for both nights this weekend on the Pepsi Rink at Maysa Arena is scheduled for 7:35 PM.