STATELINE, Nev. – The Tahoe Knight Monsters, the ECHL Affiliate of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights and the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights, wrapped up their final matchup of the season against rivals, the Utah Grizzlies, on Saturday. Tahoe took two of the three games.
The Knight Monsters are back in action on Friday, March 6, as they battle with the league-leading Kansas City Mavericks on the road in Missouri. Puck drop is at 5:05 pm PT, with pregame coverage going live at 4:55 pm PT.
The Knight Monsters return home on Wednesday, March 11, to take on the Kansas City Mavericks for Pucks and Paws Knight at Tahoe Blue Event Center. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m., with pregame coverage on the Knight Monsters broadcast network beginning at 6:50 p.m. For more information on tickets, visit www.knightmonstershockey.com
Game 3 – Knight Monsters Close Rivalry Against Grizzlies with 4-1 Road Victory. The Tahoe Golden Monsters defeated the Utah Grizzlies on Saturday night, 4-1, to secure a win in the final matchup between the two teams.
Both teams were kept off the scoresheet in the first period as Tahoe’s Jordan Papirny and Utah’s Hunter Miska both pitched shutouts through 20.
In the second period, Tahoe found the back of the net as Devon Paliani scored his 24th goal of the season to put the Knight Monsters up 1-0. Samuel Mayer would add on to the lead with his 12th, and Connor Marritt found the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season, and Tahoe took a 3-0 lead into the final period.
In the third, Utah’s Yaroslav Yevdokimov ended the shutout bid for Papirny to make it 3-1, but Papirny would stand tall for the remainder of the game, stopping 39 of 40 Utah shots. After Jordan Gustafson added an empty net goal, the Knight Monsters closed the book on this Mountain Division rivalry with a 4-1 victory.
Game 2 – Tahoe Responds with 3-1 Win Over Grizzlies in Penultimate Matchup. The Tahoe Golden Monsters defeated the Utah Grizzlies on Friday night, 3-1.
In the first period, the Knight Monsters’ fourth line scored in their second straight game as Jake Durflinger found the back of the net off of assists from CJ Valerian and Ben Lindberg to make it 1-0 Knight Monsters after 20 minutes of play.
In the middle period, Trent Swick scored his 19th of the year to make it 2-0 Tahoe, but Utah would get on the board thanks to a power-play goal from Reilly Connors, and the Knight Monsters would take a 2-1 lead into the final frame.
In the third, Jake McGrew scored the only goal of the period as he showed off his speed on a pretty play to give Tahoe a 3-1 lead, and an eventual victory.
Jordan Papirny played lights out in net, as he stopped 26 of 27 Utah shots in the victory.
Game 1 – Knight Monsters Fall in Road Series Opener to Grizzlies 8-3. The Tahoe Golden Monsters fell to the Utah Grizzlies on the road on Wednesday night, 8-3.
In the first period, Tahoe got on the board first as Jordan Gustafson continued to stay hot, making it 1-0. However, Utah would end the period with three unanswered goals to head into the intermission up 3-1.
In the second, the Grizzlies added two more goals in a row to make it 5-1. However, in his first game back from the Henderson Silver Knights, Sloan Stanick found the back of the net to cut the lead to 5-2. This was also Stanick’s 100th game with the Knight Monsters in his career. However, less than two minutes later, Utah would answer with another goal to push the lead back to four, as Utah led 6-2 after the first 40 minutes.
In the final period, Utah would go on to extend its lead to 7-2, but Tahoe would answer as Eric Olson found the back of the net in his first game in a Knight Monsters uniform to make it 7-3. The goal was also Olson’s first career goal at the ECHL level. However, just 12 seconds later, Utah would add on another goal to go up five and take the victory by a score of 8-3.
Utah was led offensively by Danny Dzhaniyev, who scored a goal and added five assists for six points in the game. Reilly Connors also stood out offensively with a pair of goals and a pair of assists.