STATELINE, Nev. – The Tahoe Knight Monsters hosted the Rapid City Rush for a three-game series at the Tahoe Blue Event Center, but it was a series the local team saw defeat on all nights, including Saturday’s Teddy Bear Night. The Knight Monsters were outscored 12-5 in the three games.

Wednesday – Win Streak Ends With 5-2 Loss to Rapid City. The Tahoe Knight Monsters opened the month of December with a 5-2 home loss against the Rapid City Rush.             

In the first period, Ryan Wagner found the back of the net for the Rush late in the frame to put the visitors up 1-0 after the opening 20.

In the second, Quinn Olson broke free on a breakaway shorthanded to beat Cameron Whitehead and put the Rush up by 2. Rapid City would add on later in the middle frame with a goal from Briley Wood to go up by a trio of goals with 20 minutes left.

In the third, Tahoe started to mount a comeback. After Sloan Stanick scored to get Tahoe on the board, Casey Bailey buried a chance in the crease on the power play to cut the lead to just 1. In the final two minutes, Rapid City buried the Knight Monsters as Cameron Buhl scored to go up 4-2, and Xavier Bernard scored his first goal of the season on an empty net to give the Rush a 5-2 victory.

Tahoe’s streak of four consecutive wins comes to a close with the loss. The Knight Monsters face off against the Rush on Friday, December 5, and Saturday, December 6, to close out the series.  

Friday – Rapid City Offense Has Third Period to Remember in 4-1 Win. In the first period, neither team could find the back of the net as fans were treated to a goaltender’s duel between Cameron Whitehead and Arsenii Sergeev.  

In the second period, it was Adam Pitters striking on the power play for Tahoe to give the Knight Monsters a 1-0 lead heading into the final 20 minutes of play.

The third period is where the Rush took control of the game. It took Rapid City just 19 seconds to tie the game off a goal from Rasmus Ekström, which made it 1-1. At the 9:25 mark of the period, Xavier Bernard found the back of the net for the second consecutive game to put the Rush up by 1. After empty-net goals from Ryan Chyzowski and Cameron Buhl, the Rush walked out of Stateline with a 4-1 Friday night victory.

Rapid City’s Sergeev played lights out in net, stopping 38 of 39 Tahoe shots. Sergeev picked up his team-leading fifth win with his effort.

Saturday – Rapid City Earns Three-Game Sweep over Knight Monsters with 3-2 Win in the Skills Competition on Teddy Bear Toss Night. The Tahoe Knight Monsters were swept by the Rapid City Rush as they fell 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday night.

In the first period, the Rush found the back of the net first, thanks to Ryan Chyzowski scoring on the power play to give Rapid City a 1-0 lead headed into the first intermission.   

In the second period, Casey Bailey scored his tenth goal of the season to tie the game and send teddy bears flying onto the rink. All stuffed animals tossed onto the ice were donated to the Tahoe Douglas Fire Department. Later in the frame, after the cleanup delay, Chyzowski found the back of the net again off a pretty pass from Rasmus Ekström to give the Rush a 2-1 advantage heading into the final 20.

In the third, Devon Paliani scored the lone goal to tie the score up at 2. After the remainder of the period featured a goaltender showdown between Cameron Whitehead for Tahoe and Nathan Torchia for Rapid City, the game headed to overtime.

In OT, despite high-quality chances from both sides, neither team could find the back of the net, and the game went to a shootout.

In the shootout, the Rush went two-for-two as Chyzowski and Blake Bennett scored while Torchia made saves against Paliani and Sloan Stanick to give Rapid City a 3-2 win, and a three-game sweep over the Knight Monsters.

The Knight Monsters return home on Wednesday, December 17, to take on the Wichita Thunder at Tahoe Blue Event Center for Country Knight. 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