Lucca Ori broke a 1-1 tie with 43 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Minot Minnotauros a 2-1 victory over the Aberdeen Wings on Friday, Feb. 6, in their series opener at Odde Ice Center. The Wings bounced back the following night, using a three-goal second period to earn a 6-3 victory on Saturday, Feb. 7.

With time ticking down in the third period, Ori took a pass from Ivan Sidorov and ripped a shot from the slot past Aberdeen goaltender Willum Braun in the final minute to give the Tauros the lead for good. The Wings pulled Braun for the remainder of the game, but couldn’t net the equalizer with the extra skater.

Sidorov also earned the primary assist on Minot’s first goal of the contest. Trevor Stewart got the Tauros (16-21-4) on the board on the power play at 18:23 of the opening period with his fourth goal of the season.

The Wings (25-11-4) responded in the second, tying the game on a goal from Briggs Orr in the opening minute.

Chase Anderson earned the win in net for the Tauros, finishing with 29 saves.

There was no late-game drama the following night, as the Wings had the game in hand in the final minute of regulation thanks to a three-goal second period to break the game open and avoid the series sweep.

Ori netted his second goal of the weekend with two seconds left in the opening period to pull Minot even 2-2, but the second period belonged to the Wings. Jonathan Doucette put the Wings in front 1:11 into the frame and Cooper Anderson added a power-play four minutes later. Taven James put the Tauros in a 5-2 hole with four minutes left in the period.

Briggs Knott netted his second goal of the game midway through the third period to cut the deficit to 5-3, but that was as close as the Tauros would get. Jibber Kuhl would add an empty-net goal for good measure for the Wings.

Sidorov added three more assists on Saturday to finish the weekend with five points.

The Tauros travel to play a weekend series with the Minnesota Mallards beginning on Friday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m. at Rough Rider Center.