Robert Brewer/MDN Seen here in Friday's home game against Bismarck, Minot's Brett Roloson controls the puck in the offensive zone during the first period.

The Minot Minotauros made their third trip of the season to Aberdeen’s Odde Ice Center Wednesday night, beginning a three-game home-and-home series with the first-place Wings before returning to Minot for the other two Friday night.

Minot had yet to solve the Wings entering the contest, having lost all five previous matchups with Aberdeen by a collective 26 goals to four. Wednesday also marked the fourth game the Minotauros had played in Aberdeen thus far, where Minot had been able to muster only two goals in the previous three.

The Minotauros, in search of their 16th win of the season, were once again led into battle by Keenan Racier, perhaps the team’s steadiest component to this point.

Rancier had started all of Minot’s previous 30 games and boasted a .919 save percentage, as well as a 2.91 goals-against average, despite facing over 35 shots per game. Aberdeen countered with Dominik Wasik, starting between the pipes for the eighth time this year and sporting a .942 save percentage in his previous seven games.

Minot begun the game with a hot start in the offensive zone. Within the first couple of minutes, the Minotauros appeared to score the game’s first goal, but the whistle had been blown by a referee prior to the puck crossing the goal line.

Aberdeen regained the offensive momentum and controlled most of the first period, but it was the Minotauros who cracked the scoreboard first. Logan Anderson found the back of the Wings’ cage with 12 minutes and 15 seconds left in the opening 20 minutes, his third goal of the season.

Ethan Schmunk and Brett Roloson added their fourth and seventh assists of the year, respectively, and Minot, a squad that held an 11-3-3 record when scoring first entering the contest according to play-by-play voice Ken Oda, was off to an early lead on just its second shot on goal of the game.

Rancier again was heavily relied-upon, facing three power play opportunities from a unit that scores on the man advantage almost 28 percent of the time and 21 total shots in the first period. The Victoria, British Columbia native responded by standing tall in the face of adversity and remained unblemished through the first 20 minutes, dragging Minot to a 1-0 advantage entering the first intermission.

The middle period was a significant step up for the Minotauros, despite failing to tally their second goal. Minot tied the Wings with two shots each through the period’s first eight minutes, and recorded eight shots in response to Aberdeen’s nine by the frame’s end. The Minotauros also killed off an additional penalty by Nikolai Charchenko just over four minutes into the frame.

Minot did see a couple of chances on the power play on the second and third penalties of the game committed by the Wings, but Aberdeen’s penalty kill shut Minot out on its chances. Despite being outshot 30-16 through 40 minutes, the Minotauros still held a 1-0 advantage entering the final period.

Minot again matched Aberdeen shot-for-shot throughout the third period, registering five shots to the Wings’ five as the 10-minute mark ticked off the clock. Their labor paid off not long after, as Logan Anderson tipped the puck in front of the net and was credited with his second goal of the night to double Minot’s advantage with eight minutes and 50 seconds to play. Schmunk was also given his second assist of the evening on the scoring play, which occurred on Minot’s 23rd shot of the game.

Aberdeen finally solved Rancier just under four minutes later. Liam Fraser contributed the Wings’ 38th shot on net with five minutes to play and found the back of Minot’s net, halving the Minotauros’ lead with his 12th goal of the year.

Rancier stopped the final four shots he faced, boosting the Minotauros to their first win over the Wings since their 3-2 victory at the Odde Ice Center Nov. 9, 2019. Rancier’s impressive performance was the sixth time this season he had allowed one or fewer goals, and he made 41 total saves in the winning effort. As a whole, Minot handed Aberdeen its second regulation loss of the season, and moved to 16-15-4-1 on the season.

Minot will be back in action March 19 against the Wings at Maysa Arena, looking to make it two in a row against their first-place foes. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:35 p.m.