LAKE TAHOE, Nev. – After a long road trip, the Tahoe Knight Monsters returned home for a three-game series against the Savannah Ghost Pirates at the Tahoe Blue Event Center. The Knight Monsters won the games on Thursday and Saturday, losing on Friday. The Knight Monsters are the ECHL Affiliate of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights and the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights.

Thursday – Knight Monsters Take Savannah to School with 2-1 Victory on School Day. The Tahoe Knight Monsters defeated the Savannah Ghost Pirates in their return to Stateline by a 2-1 final score.  Their early puck drop was due to the team hosting local students on “School Day.”

In the first period, the new kid in class, Jordan Gustafson, received a beautiful feed on the doorstep from Devon Paliani to tally his first professional goal in his first professional game to make it 1-0 Knight Monsters after the first.

In the second, Tahoe extended their lead thanks to a power play goal from Trent Swick, who used his long reach to wrap one past Michael Simpson on the far side and put the Knight Monsters up 2-0 headed into the third period.  

In the final frame, Savannah gained some momentum with a power play goal from Nicholas Zabaneh in the final six minutes of regulation. But in the end, it was Knight Monsters’ goaltender Cameron Whitehead who earned an A+ on his report card, stopping 44 of 45 Ghost Pirates shots to give Tahoe a 2-1 victory.  

Friday – Savannah Offense Explodes in 8-1 Victory Over Knight Monsters. The Tahoe Knight Monsters fell to the Savannah Ghost Pirates on Friday night by a score of 8 to 1.        

In the first period, Savannah found two goals in the opening frame from Robert Mastrosimone and Reece Vitelli to make the score 2-0 Ghost Pirates heading into the middle period.  

In the second, Savannah continued to extend their lead. Matt Koopman buried a goal just 13 seconds into the period, Mastrosimone tallied his second of the contest on the power play, and Cristophe Tellier scored on a breakaway chance to make it 5-0 Savannah. In the final six minutes of the period, the Knight Monsters got on the board, thanks to the first goal of the season from Olivier LeBlanc to cut the deficit to 5-1, but Nicholas Zabaneh scored a tip-in goal in the final 90 seconds of the period to make it 6-1 Ghost Pirates heading into the final 20.

In the third, Noah Carroll and Dennis Cesana extended the Savannah lead, as each defenseman scored in the final four minutes of the game to make the final score 8-1.

Saturday – Knight Monsters Take Rubber Match Victory Over Ghost Pirates 4-3, The Tahoe Knight Monsters took two out of three games from the Savannah Ghost Pirates with their win on Saturday night, 4-3.         

In the first, Savannah found the back of the net first, thanks to Zach Krajnik’s first goal of the season to make it 1-0 Ghost Pirates. However, Devon Paliani would answer back at the 13:13 mark to tie the game at 1 headed into the locker room.

In the second, Tahoe controlled the game. Paliani buried his second of the game and fifth of the season, and just 61 seconds later, Sloan Stanick capitalized on his 12th goal of the season, which gave him 100 career ECHL points, to make it 3-1 Knight Monsters headed into the final 20.

In the third, Casey Bailey scored on the power play to make it 4-1 Tahoe, and make the game look like it was over, but Savannah stormed back. A goal from Robert Mastrosimone and one from Dennis Cesana cut the Tahoe lead to 4-3, but with the extra attacker out on the ice, the Ghost Pirates could not beat Cameron Whitehead, who stopped 31 of 34 Savannah shots, as the Knight Monsters took home a 4-3 victory.

The Knight Monsters return home on Friday, November 28, to take on the Tulsa Oilers at Tahoe Blue Event Center for night one of Wizard Weekend. Puck drop is at 7:00 pm, with pregame coverage on the Knight Monsters broadcast network beginning at 6:50 pm. Ticket packages for the 2025-26 season are now available.  For more information, visit www.knightmonstershockey.com