This past weekend featured the Minot Minotauros squaring off against in-state rival Bismarck Bobcats as both teams closed out the regular season schedule ahead of the 2025 Robertson Cup Playoffs.

Both teams entered the weekend with playoff appearances already clinched ahead of next weekend.

Friday night, Minotauros took home ice on the Pepsi Rink at Maysa Arena looking to bounce back following a weekend sweep in Aberdeen last time out.

It was the Bobcats striking first on Friday night just under 15 minutes into the period as Keanu Krenn bounced one in through the crease off Tauros’ netminder Lukas Swedin to grab the first goal of the night.

Under a minute later, Bismarck lead was extended courtesy of Bobcats’ forward Kyle Doll off a feed into the slot from Charlie Sandven to make it 2-0 on Doll’s 13th goal of the season.

That score would hold as both teams arrived at the break on the Pepsi Rink inside Maysa Arena. Shots on goal through the first 20 minutes on Friday night favored the Bobcats 14-3.

The Bobcats would add two more in the second period, the first of which came off the stick of Zane Rowen as he wrapped one in from behind the cage and fired the puck past Swedin’s glove side for Bismarck’s third of the night.

The Bobcats’ second goal of the second period would come from Louie Kamienski on his 24th of the season with assists credited to Tommy Cronin and Ollie Chessler for their 19th and 23rd assists of the season.

The Tauros would get one back prior to the end of the period as Landon Fleming put one in the back of the net past Bobcats’ goalie Kai Weigel to get the Tauros on the board on Fleming’s 8th goal of the year.

The Bismarck 4-1 lead would hold until the final horn sounded inside Maysa Arena as the Bobcats picked up their 46th win of the year and extended their league-best winning streak to 12 games.

The final shot totals on Friday night favored the Bobcats 45-26 as both teams went scoreless on the extra-man advantage.

The final regular season game would come Saturday night as the Minotauros made the trip down to the VFW Sports Center in Bismarck.

The Bobcats would strike first on a goal from Alexandr Kim as he put one past Will Mizenko off a rebound on the right side of the net to grab the first lead of the night just over halfway into the first period.

Nearly three minutes later, Tommy Cronin added on to the Bobcats’ lead making it 2-0 on a goal that came off a shot deep in the slot that found its way past the blocker of Mizenko for Cronin’s third point of the weekend.

Much like the Friday night contest the Bobcats would hold a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period as they outshot the Tauros 10-9 through the opening 20 minutes of play.

The Tauros would fight back as Mackley Morelli found the back of the net for the first time as a Minotauro as he cut the deficit back to one.

Just over 11 minutes into the second frame, Bismarck would respond as they regained the two-goal advantage on a goal coming from Evan Hunter through traffic in front of the Tauros net to make it 3-1.

Later in the third period, Louie Kamienski would add an empty netter to secure a weekend sweep over the Tauros while notching a Bobcat franchise-best 47th win as the regular season wrapped up.

The Minotauros finished the 2024-25 regular season with a record of 40-18-1 good for 81 points and third place in the Central Division.

The Tauros will hit the road down to Austin this weekend to take on the Bruins in games one and two of round one of the Robertson Cup Playoffs.

Minot is set to host game three of that series on Friday, April 25, and if necessary a game four on Saturday, April 26.