In the first two games of their series in Rapid City, the Tahoe Knight Monsters have beat the Rush 3-1 and 6-4.

Game 1 Friday

On Friday, the Tahoe Knight Monsters beat the Rush by a final score of 3-1. Isaac Johnson scored his first goal of the season in his debut, Bear Hughes tallied the game-winning goal, and netminder Jesper Vikman slammed the door in the final two periods after letting in a first-period shorthanded goal for his 13th win of the season.

Knight Monsters’ forward and alternate captain Logan Nelson also made his return to Rapid City after spending three seasons playing for the Rush as a top-three scorer and a fan-favorite. 

Tahoe had another impact debut in the form of Vegas Golden Knights’ 2021 fourth round pick Jacob Demek, who returned from injury after playing last season with the Henderson Silver Knights. 

The Knight Monsters dominated in possession in the first as they put up 11 shots on RC goaltender Matt Radomsky, and allowed just five. But it was the Rush who would open the scoring while shorthanded, as Brett Davis took a partial breakaway and buried it past Vikman for his 12th goal of the season.

Tahoe responded right from the jump in the second however, as Isaac Johnson took a great pass from Jakub Demek and roofed the puck to tie the game at 1. Both Johnson and Demek debuted in the game and made their presence felt immediately. 

Following Demek’s goal, Bear Hughes wristed one past Radomsky immediately following a faceoff win to give the Knight Monsters their first lead of the game in the final four minutes of the period.

Jesper Vikman, who was credited with a goal last game against the Maine Mariners, stopped all eight shots in the second period to shut out the Rush and conserve Tahoe’s lead entering the third. 

Even though Rapid City matched the Knight Monsters in shots at eight in the final period, Jake Mcgrew sealed the game for Tahoe with his 11th goal of the season in the final minutes . The play began off a strong forecheck from Patrick Newell, who created a turnover and found McGrew in the slot.

With his performance, Vikman earned his 13th win of the season finishing the game with only one goal against and a save percentage of .954%. On the other side, Radomsky was Rapid City’s best player of the night with a save percentage of .892%, letting in only three goals out of 28 shots. 

Game 2 Saturday

The Tahoe Knight Monsters maintained their number one spot in the mountain division with a thrilling 6-4 victory against the Rapid City Rush. It took the one of most entertaining first periods of the season, where a total of seven goals were scored.

In an adrenaline-filled start to the game, Rapid City started off strong by scoring a quick five- hole goal just three minutes in. This lead was quickly erased as Tahoe then scored three goals in a little over three minutes.

The star of this sequence was Isaac Johnson, who began the scoring with a powerplay goal. He added another moments later, putting together a highlight-reel sequence of cutting in from the outside, beating a defenseman, then finally Rapid City’s netminder Matt Radomsky. 

The final goal for Tahoe in the first period came from a two-on-one where Adam Robbins wristed a rocket past Radomsky to make the score 3-1.

But the lead was short-lived.

Rapid City turned on the jets immediately after, scoring three unanswered goals to give themselves a 4-3 lead to conclude the first. And the buzzer sounded on a back-and forth period that featured seven goals coming from six separate skaters.

Down by a goal in the second, the Knight Monsters only put up six shots on net while allowing 10, all of which were stopped by netminder Jordan Papirny in his first start of this series.

After letting in four goals in the first, he dominated the final two periods, concluding the night with a save percentage of .885 and 31 stops.

It was more of the same for Tahoe in the first half of the third period until a loose puck in the crease was swiped and jabbed past Radomsky by Sloan Stanick for the game-tying-goal. 

That spark carried the Knight Monsters’ to just over five minutes later when Luke Adam tapped in his seventh of the season, giving Tahoe a 5-4 lead. 

The primary helper on the two most important goals of the game, the equalizer and the eventual game-winner came from Dominic Vidoli, his first two points of the season. 

Rapid City pulled Radomsky in the final minutes where Stanick sealed the deal with his second goal of the night on the empty net for a final score of 6-4.

The Tahoe Knight Monsters will look for the three-game sweep on the road for the first time on Sunday in South Dakota at 3:05 p.m. If they accomplish this feat, it will be the second three-game series sweep in franchise history.