Minot held a lead for slightly more than a minute Friday night, but it turned out to be the most important 80 seconds of the evening at the Odde Ice Center.

The Aberdeen Wings dropped a 3-1 NAHL hockey decision to the Minotauros, who scored twice in the closing minutes of play, including the game-winner before an empty-net goal.

“We had one broken down defensive zone coverage there, they found a way to get it to the back of the net, and obviously that’s the difference,” said Wings coach Scott Langer. “But what we’re dealing with here right now with shortened personnel, I thought our effort was really good, and it’s something we can build off of.”

The Minotauros broke a 1-1 tie with a goal with 1:20 remaining in the third period, and then added an empty-netter in the last second of play for the final margin of difference.

The outcome spoiled a stellar night in net for Aberdeen goalie Damon Cummingham, who stopped 38 of the 40 shots he faced.

“I stopped 38, I would have liked to have stopped 40,” Cunningham said. “At the end of the day, we didn’t get the win and that’s all that matters.”

Cunningham definitely did his part as Minot peppered the Aberdeen zone with 17 shots in the opening period and 13 in the third.

“Damon played awesome; goaltending was good,” Langer said. “I thought our forwards were good and their goaltending was good, kept them in there for a while as well, especially in the second period when I thought we had some pretty good stuff going on. But again, we got to build off it and we have to continue to keep moving on.”

Cole Saterdalen scored Aberdeen’s lone goal early in the second period to give the hosts a chance to play with a lead for about a third of the contest.

“I kind of hopped on the ice and Jibber (Kuhl) created a turnover, dished me the puck and drove net,” Saterdalin explained of the sequence. “D went with him, so I decided to fire it, and it went pipe in.”

However, the Wings found themselves trying to fight off power play chances by Minot, including a two-man advantage in the opening period. The Minotauros were one for five on power players, while the Wings did not score in four opportunities.

“Especially when both teams are pretty even five-on-five, you have to take advantage of your special teams opportunities,” Saterdalen said.

Cunningham was up to the challenge nearly the whole evening. When asked how he was able fight off attempt after attempt, Cunningham responded, “Just preparation throughout the week, just keep battling. Not much to it, just make sure that I prepare, and I gave myself a good chance to get a win tonight, and tonight came up a little short, but I thought we put in a good effort and we’ll get back at it (Saturday).”

Cunningham said he studies each opponent with assistant coach Eric Hirschhaut each week.

“We watch tape. I do video every week with our goalie coach Kyle. He does a great job for getting us prepared for what we’ve got coming on the weekend,” Cunningham said. “Like we did video on the power play, so I kind of knew where they were going, made it a little bit easier to predict and know where the shots are going to be coming from so I can get in good position to play. It’s different every week. Each team presents different challenges.”

The same two teams are back at it tonight with puck drop set for 7:15 at the Odde.

When asked what it would take to get a split on the weekend, Langer said, “I think a lot of the same effort. Obviously, we have to play them more five-on-five than we did tonight, but I think we need the same effort throughout our bench with whatever we have to suit up (Saturday). We’ll suit up and we’ll go after it.”

Saterdalen knows how important each game is, especially with Minot just ahead of the Wings in the division standings.

“It’s huge,” Saterdalen of tonight’s rematch. “We have to come (Saturday) and give them our best punch.”

Minot Minotauros 0 0 3 – 3

Aberdeen Wings 0 1 0 – 1

First Period: no scoring.

Second Period: 1, AW, Cole Saterdalen (Jibber Kuhl, Nick Comfort), 7:55.

Third Period: 2, MM, Gavin Middendorf (Jordan Gibbs), 16:02; 3, MM, Billy Batten (Ty James), 1:20; 4, MM, Jack O’Hanisain (empty netter), 0:00.

Shots on Goal: Minot Minotauros 41; Aberdeen Wings 27.

Goalies: Minot Minotauros, Lukas Swedin (26 saves); Aberdeen Wings, Damon Cunningham (38 saves).