Knight Monsters hold on to win Thriller in Utah

No one said that winning eight in a row was going to be easy.

The Tahoe Knight Monsters were pushed to the limit on Wednesday night in Utah, but ultimately prevailed 7-6 in overtime. They weathered two furious Grizzlies comebacks and Brennan Kapcheck scored the game-winner in the extra frame.

The first period played out like the majority of the previous three games against Utah, with Tahoe scoring four goals. Jake McGrew hit the back of the net twice, while Sloan Stanick and Jett Jones also struck to make it 4-0 after 20 minutes.

Then the second period happened.

In the blink of an eye, Utah tied the game up at 4-4 with four goals in quick succession. Reed Lebster, Dylan Fitze, and Luke Manning scored within one minute of play, and then five minutes later Aaron Aragon notched the equalizer.

But Jett Jones would score two more goals before the end of the second for a hat trick that made it 6-4 entering the third period.

The Grizzlies would roar back again in the third, however, with both Keaton Mastrodonato and Briley Wood scoring to tie the game up at six. And the buzzer sounded at the end of the third with the score knotted up.

Enter Brennan Kapcheck, who scored off a perfect feed from Simon Pinard under a minute into the extra frame. It was his first goal since the first game of the entire season, and it came at the exact right time for Tahoe to extend their winning streak to eight games.

Tahoe has now defeated Utah four times in a row, and will look to make it five heading into game two of this series. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:10 pm on Friday night.

The Knight Monsters return to Lake Tahoe Dec. 27-29 for a series against the Tulsa Oilers. For tickets, visit HERE.