The Minot Minotauros Finnish goaltender finished off the Aberdeen Wings with a 39-save shutout performance in Game 5 of the first round of the NAHL Robertson Cup Playoffs.

With the 3-0 victory Monday night, the Minotauros climbed back from a 2-1 series deficit to knock off the regular season Central Division champion Wings on their home ice at the Odde Ice Center.

“We faced a lot of adversity throughout the year, so to come into Game 4 down and rally there and then to come into this tough building… I’m just really proud of the guys,” Minotauros coach Marty Murray said. “It wasn’t perfect by any means. But, our goalie was huge tonight and we scored some timely goals.”

A clear-cut breakaway in the opening seconds for Aberdeen’s Jonathan Bendorf needed an immediate response from Lonkila. He stood tall and stopped the first of what would be many shots to come.

Alex Eisen/MDN Wings' Jonathan Bendorf (22) and Minotauros' Lincoln Erne (3) battle for the puck in Game 5 at the Odde Ice Center in Aberdeen.

The Wings outshot the Tauros 39-21 in the contest. They also had three power plays, while Minot had none.

“I’m tired,” Lonkila said after stepping off the ice. “The game is the game and anything can happen. So, I save the (opening) breakaway and that’s (a part of) the game.”

The Minotauros scored the opening goal halfway through the first period. With bodies everywhere in front of Aberdeen goaltender Matt Vernon, Tauros forward Ryan Green found the puck and lifted it over Vernon’s shoulder.

Green also scored the first goal in the Minotauros’ Game 4 win.

“It was just some hard work down in the corners and luckily it popped out and I put it home. It was a great feeling,” Green said. “We got a lot of leaders in the room and we knew we had the mentality to get through this and we did.”

Alex Eisen/MDN Minotauros defenseman Jake Rosenbaum (7) skates with the puck while being guarded by Wings forward Jonathan Bendorf in Game 5 of the first round of the NAHL Robertson Cup Playoffs in Aberdeen.

Bendorf had another golden opportunity with 13 minutes left in the second period. Leading a 2-on-1 rush, Bendorf opted to shoot and clipped the goalpost.

Grant Loven had the Minotauros best chance to score in the second period, but he was denied from right in front of the crease off a pass from behind the net.

Behind Lonkila stopping 27 shots in the first 40 minutes, the Tauros took the slim 1-0 lead into the decisive third period.

“He looked like a wall,” Murray said about Lonkila. “He looked like he could have been in there all night with them trying to score on him. That’s the kind of the zone he was in. He was dialed in. You need your goalies to be clutch performers and he was that and then some tonight.”

With desperation starting to set in for the Wings, Ondrej Pavel doubled up the Tauros’ lead with 7:31 remaining. He skated up the boards, cut inside and sniped the puck past Vernon.

A sigh of relief and excitement poured over on the Tauros’ bench.

“They were putting a lot of pressure on us,” Murray said. “To get an insurance goal and the second one (that followed) was obviously huge there in the last few minutes.”

Three minutes after Pavel’s unassisted tally, Nolan Sawchuk delivered the final blow. A slapshot off a setup pass by Michael Talbot that flew past Vernon.

Lonkila made a few more saves with Vernon pulled out his net before the Tauros ran out the rest of the clock. Lonkila was mobbed by his teammates when the final horn sounded.

“This was awesome,” Lonkila said. “We played well tonight.”

The Minotauros advance to the second round of the playoffs for the second time in franchise history.

They will take on the Austin Bruins in the Division Finals. The Bruins defeated the Minnesota Wilderness in four games to move on.

Alex Eisen covers Minot High School, Minot State athletics and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.