The Aberdeen Wings put themselves in a good position Saturday night only to have Minot score a pair of third-period goals and claim a 2-1 North American Hockey League victory at the Odde Ice Center.

The setback was a tough one for the Wings are who are currently tied with the Minotauros for the final spot in the race for upcoming playoffs.

Aberdeen managed just two goals during the weekend series against Minot.

“That’s kind of been our MO,” said Wings coach Scott Langer. “We just don’t have guys that can put pucks in the net this year, which in the past we’ve had big-time scoring up and down our roster. We’ve asked a lot of our goal tending.”

Unlike Friday’s 5-1 loss, the Wings played with the lead for a good share of the game on Saturday night.

Dylan Wagner put Aberdeen in front midway through the second period scoring on a rebound. The power play goal came on an assist from Jordan Ronn.

However, the Wings were unable to add an insurance goal before Minot started to gain momentum in the final period.

The Minotauros had two shots on goal in the first 18 seconds of the period and played with energy pressuring the Aberdeen zone. Minot soon tied the game slightly more than three minutes into the stanza.

The visitors eventually took the lead with 5:53 remaining on a blast from just inside the blue line.

From there, Minot made the one-goal edge hold up, killing off a late power play where the Wings had a two-man advantage after pulling their goalie.

Wings goaltender Geno Pichora had a solid night in net, stopping 27 shots.

“Tonight we played a good hockey game and made a big mistake there on their second goal,” Langer said. “That’s what happens when you don’t put a team away when you should have put them away.”

As a result the Minotauros, who were unable to dent the Aberdeen net in the first 40 minutes, seemed to get stronger as the game wore on and picked up a key road victory to pull into a fourth-place tie in the Central Division standings.

“That’s an inspired hockey team over there tonight,” Langer said of Minot. “Can’t say the same for our group.”

The Wings still control their own destiny with four games remaining, but now have little margin for error.

“It’s that time of the season where it has to come out of your locker room. We need guys to step up,” Langer said. “Tonight was another one of those games that we need someone to take leadership to put us up by two.”

Aberdeen’s last four games of the season are all against the St. Cloud Norsemen, starting with a pair of contests in St. Cloud, Minn. this coming weekend.

“Down the stretch we’ve got two at home, two on the road,” Langer said, “probably going to have to win three out of four.”

While the Wings were hoping for better results against Minot on the weekend, there is still plenty to play for in the final four games of the regular season.

“There is a lot of hockey left,” Langer said, “and I guess that’s the good thing about it.”

To see a complete box score of Saturday’s game, click on the following link:

https://www.aberdeenwings.com/stats/game-center/35930