LAKE TAHOE, Nev. – This has been the first time all season that the Tahoe Knight Monsters have lost four games in a row. On Saturday night, they lost an overtime nailbiter that gave the Kansas City

Thursday – Tahoe Falters against KC in Game One Loss

The Tahoe Knight Monsters dropped game one of their series against the Kansas City Mavericks 2-1, and fell to second in the mountain division in the process. Tahoe netminder Jordan Papirny carded a valiant effort in between the pipes with 28 saves, but was saddled with his first loss in January. 

The first period began with a bang for Tahoe, as Artur Cholach started the scoring under nine minutes in with his seventh goal of the season. But KC would equalize a few minutes later on a Landon McCallum breakaway goal to make it 1-1.

That goal was the first goal allowed by Papirny since the series against Rapid City in mid-January, which was about 190 minutes of game time.

In the second, McCallum struck again with a wrister off the rush about 12 minutes in. While he allowed the goal, Papirny still made 12 saves in the frame, including some fantastic sprawling stops with Tahoe on the penalty kill.

The Knight Monsters were unable to break past KC netminder Jack LaFontaine in the third, firing off 14 shots on goal but being stonewalled at every turn. They had a late power play opportunity, but were unable to find the back of the net. And the final buzzer sounded on a 2-1 loss to open the series. 

Friday – Tahoe Falls 5-2 in KC for Third Loss in a Row

Tahoe fell 5-2 against Kansas City in game two of the series on the road, marking their third consecutive loss and fourth in their past five games. Bear Hughes and Sloan Stanick scored, but it wasn’t enough as the Mavericks rode elite special teams and a fantastic goaltending performance to victory.

Things started slow for Tahoe, who allowed two goals in the first period by Nolan Sullivan and Max Andreev. They were unable to put a shot on net through the first ten minutes of the frame until Adam Pitters created two high-danger chances in a row to begin evening out the pace of play.

In the second, the Knight Monsters couldn’t capitalize on a power play to start the period, which allowed KC to keep momentum on their side. They would draw a power play of their own just over eight minutes into the frame, and Andreev scored his second goal of the game just 14 seconds in. 

Bear Hughes would give Tahoe a fighting chance three and a half minutes later with his tenth goal of the year to cut the deficit to 3-1, but KC netminder Jack Lafontaine stonewalled the Knight Monsters for the rest of the period. 

Tahoe couldn’t sustain their momentum in the third, allowing an early goal to Sullivan and another power play goal, this time by Casey Carreau. While Sloan Stanick struck on the power play late in the game, it was too little, too late.

Jesper Vikman got the start for the Knight Monsters and was under duress all game long, turning away 31 of 36 shots seen. He has now allowed five or more goals in his last two games. 

Saturday – Knight Monsters Swept by Kansas City in Overtime Loss

They were within arm’s reach of victory in game three against Kansas City but came up just short in overtime, losing 4-3. 

The first period started similarly to game two as Jackson Berezowski scored the first goal for Kansas City in the first three minutes of the frame. Despite this early deficit, Tahoe responded quickly with Troy Loggins ripping one past KC netminder Victor Ostman for his first goal since December 27.

The following frame resulted in the Knight Monsters gaining a 2-1 lead off of a Sloan Stanick goal after a beautiful coast-to-coast stretch pass by Simon Pinard. The goal gave Tahoe their first lead since early on in game one of the series.

Kansas City was awarded a power play immediately after the goal, as both Stanick and Jett Jones were called off after pushing and shoving occurred after the whistle. Tahoe was able to shut down the power play to hold on to their lead, and they were a perfect 4/4 on the PK throughout the game as well.

Back-and-forth action ensued into the third period where the Mavericks got the game tying goal by Cam Morrison just two minutes in. But Jake Johnson responded six minutes later with a tap-in off a rebound to give Tahoe the lead right back.

But it was short-lived, as under a minute later Max Andreev fluttered in a shot that lifted above Jordan Papirny’s shoulder to tie up the game again.

In the final forty seconds of the third period, Tahoe took a cross-checking penalty which gave the edge to Kansas City to break the 3-3 tie in regulation. The penalty carried over into overtime where the Knight Monsters were able to kill it off successfully. 

But just 40 seconds later, KC defender Justin MacPherson navigated his way down the length of the ice and roofed the game-winning goal past Papirny to secure the series sweep for the Mavericks. 

While Papirny finished the night with four goals allowed, he put up a strong showing against KC’s furious offense and consistently kept Tahoe in the game. On the other side, Ostman was magnificent as well in his return from the AHL.

The Tahoe Knight Monsters will look to end their losing skid at home on Thursday, February 6 against the Adirondack Thunder at 7:00 p.m. where they will rebrand into the Tahoe Golden Monsters for affiliation weekend.  And, after every Knight Monsters home game check out a postgame party at AleWorX Stateline for wood-fired pizza, self-serve beer, and great scenery.