Kari Gibb/MDN Minotauros forward Joel Lehtinen battles with Austin forward Reiley Kotai for the puck in a face off during game two action at the Maysa Arena

AUSTIN, Minn. – A year ago, the Austin Bruins brought their brooms to Minot and swept the Minotauors out of the playoffs. On Friday, it was Minot’s turn to return the favor by sweeping aside Austin with a 7-1 road win. With the victory, the Minotauros advance to the Central Division Finals in the 2024 Robertson Cup Playoffs. .

Austin got the scoring started six-and-half minutes into the game to take its first lead of the season when Alex Laurenza found the back of the net on assists from Jackson Luther and Ryan Hintz.

The lead was short-lived.

Minot’s Joel Lehtinen scored the first of his two goals, assisted by Will Dawson and Ty James with 6:52 left in the first period. The goal sparked six more unanswered goals to propel the Minotauros to the next round.

Minot was outshot by Auston 24-23 in the game, but the Minotauros made the most of the opportunities, as Trent Wiemhen struggled in net for the Bruins. Brady James did not struggle in the Minotauros net, saving 23 of 24 shots, including ten in the first period.

Rylan Jockims broke the tie in the second period with an unassisted goal. Jack O’Hanisain made the score 3-1, with his 30th goal of the season, assisted by Pavol Funtek and Lehtinen. The final goal of the second period came with just 1:13 left before intermission when Murray Marvin-Cordes added his second of the year to make it 4-1.

Lehtinen added his second goal of the game on a power play, after Dylan Cook was sent to the penalty box for boarding. After John Emmons added another goal to make it 6-1 halfway through the period, it was John Small’s opportunity to score on special teams. Small scored with 4:07 left in the period after Austin Salani was sent off for elbowing.

In total, Minot had seven power plays in the game while Austin only had two.

The Minotauros will host Game One and Game Two of the Division Finals on Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4 at the Maysa Arena. Minot will face the winner of tonight’s Game Five matchup between the Aberdeen Wings and the Bismarck Bobcats.