The Aberdeen Wings have not clinched a playoff spot quite yet, but they took a major stride en route to accomplishing that goal Friday night.

The Wings held Minot scoreless for nearly the final 56 minutes on the way to a 2-1 North American Hockey League win at the Odde Ice Center Friday night. That victory, coupled with a St. Cloud loss to Watertown in a shootout, left the Wings with a three-point lead with just three games remaining for the final playoff spot in the Central Division standings.

Aberdeen scored two goals in the final two minutes of the opening period and got solid goaltending from Damon Cunningham, who overcame a fluke goal in the opening minutes, to secure the big win.

“We gave up a tough one there on that first goal, it went off our skate, and then obviously we ended up being a little bit relentless and getting two right back,” said Wings coach Scott Langer. “It was a good finish to the first period, and I thought defensively and goal-tending wise we were really good the second and the third.”

Minot’s only goal came early and then Cunningham stonewalled the Minotauros the rest of the way, despite the visitors being on the power play often in the final two periods.

“It’s a little fluky. Kind of gotten use to them at this point. There’s been a few of those this year,” Cunningham said of the unconventional goals he has given up. “I focused really hard on just next-shot mentality. That’s been my mentality for a little bit now and just what I can do. I can’t go back and change it. I can’t play any differently. I can’t move the guy. It goes in and it’s the next shot, and the next shot after that, and controlling what I can control.”

Meanwhile, the Wings got a big shot in the arm, scoring back-to-back goals in the closing minutes of the the opening period, the first coming with 1:56 remaining when Cade Moxham found the back of the net, and the second about a minute later as Jibber Kuhl scored off a faceoff for what proved to be the game-winner.

Sebastian Lillsund won that faceoff and fed Kuhl, who put the puck in the back of the net with 58.9 seconds left in the opening period.

“It was a drawn up play. I looked at ‘Seby’ and just nodded. He knew exactly what I was going to do,” Kuhl said. “I just kind of went to the back post, lucky bounce and fortunately it went in.”

Those goals changed the complexion of the game as the Wings, who trailed for 90 percent of the opening period, suddenly went into the locker room with a one-goal lead.

“It was big and a big momentum shifter for us,” Kuhl said, “and just excited for (Saturday) night.”

Langer said not only did the goals provide momentum, so did the team’s penalty kill.

“Obviously, we were on the wrong side of the calls tonight, again,” Langer said, “but we were able to step up and utilize the penalty kill to create some momentum.”

Those penalties, five in all, kept the pressure on Cunningham and he responded with 31 total saves.

“It was a tiring one for sure,” Cunningham said. “I didn’t have a moment to rest, but it was good.”

Just when Cunningham finished off one penalty kill, another was on his doorstep.

“They were on the power play for 4-6 minutes in the second and the third. It was a tiring game,” Cunningham said. “It was a bagger, but in these games there is no tomorrow and you have to dig deep and get everything you can out of yourself, and that’s what every guy in the room did tonight.”

Aberdeen received a team effort to record a win in a game that statistically was even throughout.

“Our team played like a team tonight. They played with a lot of depth,” Langer said. “We were able to play all four of our lines, all seven of our D, obviously ‘Cunny’ was ‘Cunny’ in net tonight.”

The Wings have two solid goalies in Cunningham and Willum Braun, who stopped every shot he faced in a shootout, during a win last weekend.

“They’re both good goalies,” Langer said. “I think just ‘Cunny’ being the 20-year-old that’s kind of been through this stuff a little bit. He had a really good week of preparation and he was set to go.”

In the end, Aberdeen came up big for a win over a Minot squad, which has given the Wings some problems so far this season.

“They’re a really good team. They play well, they have good coaching,” Kuhl said. “I think, honestly tonight we just wanted it more. We were gritty; we wanted it more tonight.”

The same two teams are back at it tonight at the Odde with puck drop set for 7:15. It will be another key game as the Wings try to inch closer to that coveted playoff spot.

“It’s just present moment,” Cunningham said. “That’s all that matters. … We got the two points, now it’s business (Saturday).”

Aberdeen, not only has a three-point lead on St. Cloud, it owns a tiebreaker over the Norsemen, and the Wings have all three of their remaining regular-season games at home.

“We know that we have to control what we have to control,” Langer said. “Obviously, this is a good step and we’ll move on to (Saturday) and go back after them again.”

To see a complete box score, click on the following link:

https://www.aberdeenwings.com/game-center/?game_id=44189