The Aberdeen Wings completed the sweep Saturday Night in Minot winning the game 4-3 giving themselves a one point advantage of second place ahead of the St. Cloud Norsemen. The game was once again filled with penalties mainly from the Wings side, but they were able to push through it and get the win. Cole Moore got the win making 27/30 saves. While Minot used both goaltenders in the game making a combined 26/30 saves.
The first period for the Wings started off the same way they ended the game last night. With 1:36 seconds into the opening period Alexander Gullichsen scored a goal which was assisted by Owen Benoit giving them an early 1-0 lead. Shortly after the first goal Gullichsen fired a long shot from the top of the circle beating Minots goaltender Noah Rupprecht top shelf giving the Wings a 2-0 lead at the 12:18 mark of the first period. Minot changed goaltenders going back to Lawton Zacher after that second early goal. Cole Moore denied all 10 shots sent his way in the first while Rupprecht stopped 7 of 9 and Lawton Zacher stopping 4 of 4. Additionally the Wings penalty kill stayed solid by killing Minots lone power play of the period on a holding penalty on Wings Zachary Reim with 5:55 left of the first.
In the second period the Wings got another power play goal at the 15:39 mark of the second with the goal coming from Roope Tuomioksa assisted by Owen Benoit and Dylan Wegner giving the Wings a 3-0 lead. Then the period went downhill with penalties on the Wings with Logan Gravink giving them one at the 11:25 mark with a minor checking from behind penalty. Shortly after Trevor Stachowiak scored on the power play giving the Minotauros their first goal of the game. The Wings still held on to a 3-1 lead though. The Wings then had their second power play on a goalie interference call on Minots Nick Stewecke, but the Minotauros were able to kill it off. Then at the 13:49 mark Luke Backel went to the box for a hooking minor, a few seconds later Nikolai Tishkevich got called with a charging penalty on a loose puck that Minots goalie Lawton Zacher came out of the crease to get and Tishkevich got tangled up with him. That gave Minot a 5 on 3 powerplay, which they would capitalize on scoring two goals. Both goals came from Braden Fischer making it a 3-3 game. Towards the end of the second period Owen Dubois would get called on a hooking penalty which the Wings would kill off. Additionally Minots Colby Woogk got called for a hooking penalty giving the Wings a power play at the start of the third period. Cole Moore saved 12/15 shots on net in the second period, while Lawton Zacher would save 5/6 shots.
The third period started out the same way the entire second period went with 2 straight penalties on the Wings. The first one on Zachary Reim for tripping 2:49 into the third and the second being on Luke Backel for high-sticking 7:05 into the third. Luckily though the Wings were able to kill both Minots power plays. Shortly after the Wings killed off Backels penalty they went right down the ice and captain Owen Dubois score the eventual game winning goal at the 10:17 mark of the third with that goal being assisted by Logan Gravink and Jackson Anderson. With tons of Minot pressure to end the game Moore and the Wings Defense were able to stand strong and shut the door for the weekend sweep.
“Good start tonight , another game where we came out with energy. Proud of the team for overcoming adversity in the 2nd period and finding a way to take points” Wings Head Coach/GM Scott Langer
With this win the Wings will go back to practice for the week before heading to play the North Iowa Bulls on February 17th and 18th. They will be playing at the Mason City Arena with puck drop being 7:10pm both nights.