The Tahoe Knight Monsters started their road trip to Kansas with a win, but the rest of their three-game series didn’t end similarly.
Friday – Tahoe Breaks Hearts in Valentines Day Win
Love was in the air for Tahoe in game one against Wichita.
They defeated the Thunder 4-3 on Valentine’s Day for their fourth straight victory and first on the road since January 19. Eight players registered a point for the Knight Monsters, including multi-point efforts from Luke Adam, Jett Jones and Jake McGrew.
Things started off scoreless in the opening frame thanks to stellar play by netminders Jesper Vikman and Gabriel Carriere. Tahoe controlled possession for the majority of the period, but Carriere stayed sharp and saved all 12 shots he saw.
But in the second, the action really began.
Just two minutes in, Logan Nelson swept one past Carriere off of a perfect feed from Isaac Johnson. But the lead vanished quickly, as Wichita took control with two breakaway goals in 90 seconds by Kobe Walker and Luke Grainger.
Enter Bear Hughes, who responded with his 13th goal of the season under two minutes later in transition, assisted by Sloan Stanick. However, right after killing off a Tahoe power play, Joe Carroll ripped in a wrist shot past Vikman to give the Thunder a 3-2 lead going into the third.
Down by a goal entering the final frame, the Knight Monsters wasted no time in finding the equalizer again. Just three minutes in, Luke Adam found a loose rebound and potted it home for the game-tying-goal.
That goal was assisted by Jake McGrew, who took the initial shot, and he would play hero for Tahoe later in the third. With two minutes to go in regulation, he took a pass from Adam and fired it past Carriere for the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal.
It was his fourth goal in his last four games, with three of those coming in third periods. On the goaltending side, Vikman finished the night with a save percentage of .914% and 32 stops for his third straight victory.
This was Tahoe’s fourth win in a row after their sweep of Adirondack last weekend,
Saturday – Tahoe Outlasted by Wichita in Wild Game Two Loss
Despite a late push, the Tahoe Knight Monsters fell behind early to the Wichita Thunder and couldn’t fully battle back, losing 9-7 in one of the most thrilling games of the season. Troy Loggins notched a hat trick, and Jake Johnson, Nate Kallen, Sloan Stanick and Logan Nelson carded multi-point efforts, but Tahoe was unable to complete the comeback.
The first period started with Nolan Burke sneaking a five-hole shot past Jordan Papirny, the first of 16 total goals that would be scored. Within the next three minutes, Isaac Johnson set up Troy Loggins for a five-hole goal of his own to tie the game.
Wichita would continue their onslaught in the first, scoring three unanswered by Jay Dickman, Luke Grainger, and Dillon Boucher. And the buzzer sounded on a 4-1 deficit after one for Tahoe.
The bleeding would continue into the second as Declan Smith made it 5-1 off a Wichita bounce past Papirny just 90 seconds in.
And then, things got wild.
Adam Pitters scored soon after to make it 5-2, and Anthony Collins sparked things with a fight against Dillon Boucher. And it looked like the tide was about to turn in favor of the Knight Monsters.
But just as momentum started to swing their way, a tripping penalty proved costly as Michal Stinil extended the Thunder lead to 6-2 on the power play. Shortly after, Luke Adam cut the deficit to three and sparked a late comeback effort with a short-handed breakaway goal.
The comeback effort was helped by Wichita, who took two consecutive penalties to set Tahoe up with a 5-on-3. And the Knight Monsters capitalized, with two power play goals within 90 seconds of each other.
Sloan Stanick started the fun with a backdoor wrist shot which extended his point streak to seven games. And with a power play remaining, Troy Loggins tipped one home for his second of the game to cut the score to 6-5 entering the third.
But things began to fall apart in the third, as Peter Bates scored four minutes in to extend the Thunder lead back to two. And while Jett Jones struck on the power play just a minute later to make it a one-goal game again, Wichita would pull ahead and not look back.
Nolan Burke scored three minutes later, and Jay Dickman added an empty-netter late in the third to close down the contest. Troy Loggins would complete a hat trick with less than a second to go, but the final buzzer sounded on a 9-7 final.
Jordan Papirny finished the contest with 20 saves on 28 shots seen, but he was the victim of some bad bounces right on the doorstep throughout the 60 minutes.
While Tahoe was unable to finish the job, this was still one of the most exhilarating games of the season. Three power play goals, a shorthanded tally, a Troy Loggins hat trick, and an Anthony Collins fight, all in one game. It was just one step forward, two steps back for the entire matchup.
Sunday – Knight Monsters Fall in Game Three, Lose Series in Wichita
For the second straight game, the Tahoe Knight Monsters were unable to complete a late comeback against Wichita, falling 6-3 in the series finale against the Thunder. Troy Loggins scored two more goals and Adam Robbins chipped in with a goal as well, but it wasn’t enough as Tahoe dropped the series in game three.
The first period carried over the scoring trends from game two, as both teams struck early and often. The Thunder opened the scoring on a Kobe Walker power-play goal just under four minutes in and Loggins, who had a hat trick in game two, responded 30 seconds later to tie it up at one.
Jay Dickman scored his second power play goal in as many games to give the Thunder the lead right back later in the frame. But six minutes later it was Loggins again who notched the tying goal for Tahoe, and the buzzer sounded on the first with both squads knotted up at two.
The second period featured Wichita controlling the pace of play, firing off 13 shots and scoring three times. Jake Wahlin and Luke Grainger each scored within the first five minutes, giving them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the contest.
While Robbins scored a tip in goal two minutes later to cut the deficit to one, Walker tapped in a perfect backdoor feed from Peter Bates to extend Wichita’s lead back to two.
The Knight Monsters dominated the sheet in the third period, firing 18 shots on goal and only allowing five against. But Wichita netminder Trevor Gorsuch was impeccable and turned away all 18 to lead the Thunder to victory. Despite the strong third period effort for Tahoe, Joe Carroll scored an empty net goal to seal the series.
The limited opportunities by the Thunder were shut out by Tahoe netminder Jesper Vikman in the period, who concluded the contest with a save percentage of .821% and 23 stops.
The loss drops Tahoe to third in the Mountain Division, and they are now 1-4-1 in their last six contests against divisional opponents.
They will look to bounce back as they head to Florida to face off against the Everblades this Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. Khalin Kapoor will have the call on the Knight Monsters Broadcast network and FloHockey.TV. 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.
Khalin Kapoor, courtesy of Lake Tahoe AleWorX