The Austin Bruins were basically in a must-win situation against a physical Minot team in game two of the NAHL Central Division Finals and the Bruins were equal to the task in Riverside Arena Saturday.

The Bruins scored three goals in the first period and they held on to beat Minot 4-1.

The series is tied at 1-1 and games three and four are in Minot 7:35 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Austin’s Alex Jasiek, JC Maclean and Luke Diestch all scored first period goals for the Austin to give it the boost it needed.

“It gave our bench a lot of life and it gave the guys a lot of life,” Austin head coach Chris Tok said. “They kept saying we’re not going to be denied and they’re not going to stop us tonight.”

While the Bruins made big plays with the puck early on, it was the play of goalie Evan Smith and the Austin defense that kept them on top. Smith stopped 26 of the shots he saw and he had to make some highlight saves during a second period rush by the Minotauros.

“In that second period he made four left pad saves in a row,” Tok said of Smith. “He was able to keep himself big and they couldn’t shoot anywhere else. That was a key turning point in the game. He got a little feisty, which is OK, but we want to make sure he stays focused on stopping the puck.”

Smith, who is 6-6 and from Parker, Colo., came to the Bruins from the Pikes Peak Miners 18U team earlier this season and he’s logged in 15 games for the Bruins. He had never played against Minot before Saturday, but he played an instrumental role for Austin when he helped the Bruins kill a four-minute power play in the third period.

“It was a time for them to maybe grab some momentum if they did score,” Smith said. “The entire team said it was time to dig deep, block some shots, and kill [the power play] off.”

Saturday’s game saw plenty of legal hits, but it also had some illegal shots. Minot’s Johnny Walker was one of the main aggressors and he was finally called for charging Smith in the third period.

Austin defenseman Cory Dunn said the Bruins’ approach was to meet Walker with a smile every time he tried to instigate.

“We know that’s his game. His game is to try and get under our skin and make us take stupid penalties,” Dunn said. “For the most part, we didn’t give him any time of day to get under our skin.”

Tok said Austin was well aware of Walker’s tactics and the team spent two weeks talking about not reacting to him. During the regular season, Walker was able to get to the Bruins, but Tok doesn’t want that happening in the playoffs.

“That’s what he’s going to do and that’s his M.O. Like running a goalie, that’s him; cross checking guys on the head, that’s how he plays the game,” Tok said. “We know that and there’s no retaliating against him. What’s important is winning the game.”

The Bruins will have to win at least one game in Minot to bring the series back to Austin for a game five. If they’re able to win both games at MInot, they’ll be in the Robertson Cup for the second straight year.

“We haven’t accomplished anything,” Tok said. “We tied the series and we don’t have home ice. We’ve been in this position before and so long as the guys play the way they did in the first and the third period, we’ll be happy.”

SCORING SUMMARY

Minot 0 1 0 — 1

Austin 3 0 1 — 4

First period

(A) Alex Jasiek (Trevor Boyd, Luke Dietsch) 5:01

(A) JC Maclean (Josh Wilkins, Liam Feeney) 14:02

(A) Luke Dietsch (power play) (Jasiek, Boyd) 17:36

Second period

(M) Jon Lizotte (shorthanded) (James Mathias, Jacob Dittel) 9:41

Third period

(A) Alex Pettersson (empty net) (Maclean, Nico Sturm) 18:53

Power plays: Austin — 1-for-4; Minot — 0-for-6

Shots: Austin — 24; Minot — 27