This weekend provided an opportunity for the Minotauros and Bruins to gain separation in the Central Division standings after entering the weekend tied at 79 points with three weekends remaining on the regular season schedule.

This weekend was the second straight weekend that the two teams would square off against each other with last weekend coming at Riverside Arena in Minnesota resulting in a series split.

It was the Minotauros striking first on Friday night after a scoreless first period. The opening goal for Minot came courtesy of defenseman Adam Mahler as he rocketed one past Bruins’ netminder Jack Solomon to grab the early lead.

Assists on the Tauros’ goal were credited to Jack O’Hanisain and Jesse Juhola for their 43rd and 41st helpers on the season.

Just over ten minutes later, Austin responded. EJ Paddington found the back of the net on a 5-on-3 power-play, slipping one past the blocker of Lukas Swedin to draw the game even at 1-1.

That score would hold as the game arrived at the second intermission. After two periods of play, shots on net were in favor of the Bruins, 24-17.

Noah Gibbs opened the third period by scoring the go-ahead goal for the Tauros just over three minutes into the action as he put one through the five-hole from the slot off a centering pass from Braeden Jockims to put the Tauros up, 2-1.

With under five minutes to play in regulation the Bruins would tie the game off a goal from Evan Malkhassian who cashed in on a 5-on-3 power-play. That goal would come following a five-minute major assessed to Hubert Clarke to trigger the 5-on-3 Bruin advantage.

Less than three minutes later, Evan Malkhassian netted his second of the night on the leftover 5-on-4 from the Clarke penalty to give the Bruins their first lead of the night.

Austin tacked on two more goals in the final minutes of the third period to seal a 5-2 road win to overtake second place in the Central Division on their 38th win of the season.

It was Jack Solomon picking up the win saving 23 of 25 shots for his 22nd win of the season. His record improved to 22-7-3.

Saturday night brought a much different tune to Maysa Arena as the Tauros took an early lead and never looked back.

It was forward Ian Spencer getting the scoring started just over a minute into the action netting his 24th goal of the year as he tapped one past Carl Axelsson blocker-side to put Minot on the board with an early, 1-0 advantage.

Dane Ramirez extended the Tauros’ lead just about halfway through the first period on a shot that came quickly off an offensive-zone draw on the left wing won by Jack Edwards. The goal was the Tauros second of the night and second of the season for Ramirez.

The Bruins cut the Tauros’ lead in half on a goal that resulted from a scramble in front of the net of Tauros’ netminder Will Mizenko with 9:54 remaining in the opening period. Luc Malkhassian picked up his third point of the weekend as the Bruins made it, 2-1.

The Bruins’ momentum was quickly erased before the end of the period as Jack O’Hanisain fired one in from the left wing, cashing in on a power-play to restore the two-goal lead.

Minot carried a 3-1 lead into the intermission as they outshot Austin 15-13 in the opening period.

The second period came and went with neither team finding nylon as the second 20 minutes would result in the Tauros holding onto the shots advantage, 33-22.

Neither team scored until the final minute of regulation when Ian Spencer floated one into the empty net to seal a 4-1 victory on his second goal of the night.

The empty-netter for Spencer was his 25th of the season, good for the second most goals among Tauros’ players.

In net, Will Mizenko picked up the win, saving 31 of 32 shots, as his record improved to 12-2-1 following the Saturday night win at home.

Next weekend the Tauros are back on the road as they travel to South Dakota to take on the Aberdeen Wings. Puck drop for both nights is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. at the Odde Ice Center.

Aberdeen currently occupies the fourth and final playoff spot as they hold a four-point advantage over the St. Cloud Norsemen. Most recently the Wings notched a weekend sweep at home over in-state rival, Watertown Shamrocks.

The Tauros will look to build on the Saturday night win next weekend before returning home on Friday, April 11, 2025 for their final regular season home game against the Bismarck Bobcats.