A venue change didn’t equate to a different result for the Minot Minotauros against its rival over the weekend.

Following a loss to the Bobcats in Bismarck on New Year’s Eve, the Tauros welcomed the defending NAHL champions to Maysa Arena for a weekend series to ring in 2026. The Bobcats felt right at home, sweeping the weekend with a 6-2 victory on Friday, Jan. 2, and a 3-0 win on Saturday, Jan. 3. Bismarck has won all four meetings this season.

The Bobcats (22-8-1) scored the first five goals of the series on Friday, all coming in the final two periods. Bismarck outshot the Tauros 11-3 in the first period, but had nothing to show for it, then proceeded to score on five of their final 10 shots, including a perfect 3-for-3 in the third.

Cooper Williams got the Bobcats on the board at 6:03 of the second period on their first power play opportunity of the night. Owen Dawson was whistled for tripping and Cooper Williams buried a rebound in front off an initial shot from Frantisek Broz.

Camden Alemond added a second power-play goal with 3:01 left in the first period and Mark Evans scored with 40 seconds left to push the advantage to 3-0 going into the intermission.

Noah Ziskie and Jordan Mayo scored less than two minutes apart to build a 5-0 lead before Minot’s Cap Priem and Ty James netted back-to-back goals to get the Tauros (11-17-3) back to within three goals. But Patch Cronin put the game out of reach with his third goal of the season with 6:02 remaining.

Caden Meringa got his first start in net for the Tauros. He finished with 15 saves on 21 shots faced. Bismarck’s Marko Bilic earned the win in net with a 27-save performance.

Saturday’s contest again started with a scoreless first period before the Bobcats got the offense going in the second, though this time Bismarck only put up one goal in the stanza as opposed to three. Eddie Revenig took a circle-to-circle pass from Mayo and buried a shot past Meringa at 16:03.

Charlie Kresl provided some breathing room for the Bobcats, pushing the lead to 2-0 with 4:20 remaining in regulation. Williams put the game away with his second goal of the series and first of the night with 2:09 left.

The Bobcats held a slight 33-28 edge in shots on goal.

Meringa finished with 30 saves in his second start. Bilic notched his second win in as many nights with 28 saves. It was his first shutout of the season.

The Tauros host the Minnesota Mallards on Friday, Jan. 9, at 7:35 p.m. at Maysa Arena.