The Austin Bruins are still recovering from their triple overtime win over Minot, but nothing can keep them from getting pumped up for this weekend.

For the third straight year the Bruins will be playing a five-game series against Bismarck with a trip to the Robertson Cup on the line. For the second straight year, the Bruins will have home ice advantage.

Austin will host games one and two Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Austin won three of four from the Bobcats, who are coming off a sweep of Aberdeen, at the end of the year to win the top seed in the NAHL Central Division finals.

“Winning the division right now has paid dividends after those two games in Minot. Having them getting on that bus instead of us is an advantage,” Austin head coach Chris Tok said. “We understand what’s at stake and how hard it was to get the division title. It’ll probably be even harder to win this. Our guys will be ready at game time.”

Austin played the equivalent of three games in two days in Minot over the weekend and Saturday’s contest was the longest game in NAHL history. The Bruins didn’t get back into Austin until noon Sunday and the team took Monday off. Still, the squad is still trying to get going again.

“I didn’t understand how much it does take out of you,” Tok said. “They were almost dazed and confused and we had to get on them to stop being zombies.”

Tok said the Bruins will have to keep their discipline in check to get past the Bobcats. Last year the Bruins had two players kicked out of the game early in the first period in game four and it cost them.

The Bruins also aren’t going to surprise the Bobcats with anything as the two teams couldn’t be much more familiar with each other.

“They know what our team does and we’re not trickster type coaches running anything crazy. Both teams like to be physical and both teams like to play in front of each others’ nets,” Tok said. “Right now I’d say they’re the big brother and they’re the Lion on top of the perch and the Bruins are going to knock them off this year.”