The Tahoe Knight Monsters played their first ever game in team history last night. They took on the Jacksonville Icemen. Puck drop was at 7:00 PM. The game was played at the Tahoe Blue Events Center. The Knight Monsters had not played a game before. The Tahoe Knight Monsters are the Vegas Golden Knights ECHL affiliate. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had a record of 0-0-0 going into the game. They were in 27th place in the ECHL. They were 13th in the Western Conference and 6th in the Mountain Division. The Jacksonville Icemen are the ECHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabers. The Jacksonville Icemen played one regular season game before last night. The Icemen were coming off of a 3-2 overtime loss to the Florida Everblades at home. The Jacksonville Icemen had a record of 0-0-1 going into the game. The Jacksonville Icemen were in 17th place in the ECHL. They were in 11th place in the Eastern Conference and last place in the South Division. The all-time record between the Tahoe Knight Monsters and the Jacksonville Icemen was 0-0-0 going into the game. These two teams had not played each other.
The Jacksonville Icemen played more games, had two more goals, allowed more goals, had more points, and had more penalty minutes. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had a better record and allowed fewer goals. This was the first ever challenge for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. They are a new team. This is a new arena. The Jacksonville Icemen had a string start in their first game. They let the Florida Everblades come back from down two goals. They ultimately let the Everblades score three unanswered goals. Both teams were going to be hungry for a win. The Knight Monsters wanted a good start to their season. The Icemen were looking to bounce back after their loss.
Jesper Vikman (Yes-per Vike-Man) got the start in net for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. This was Vikman’s first start in net. Matt Vernon got the start in net for the Jacksonville Icemen. This was Vernon’s second start in net.
Six minutes into the game, the Tahoe Knight Monsters scored their first ever goal. The goal was scored by #49 Artur Cholach. It was assisted by #15 Jake McGrew. McGrew got the puck off of the rebound. He went around the back of the net and tried to backhand pass the puck up the middle. His pass went through everyone. Cholach got the puck with two defenders coming at him. He took the shot and scored. Cholach’s goal was the first ever Knight Monsters goal and it gave them their first ever lead in team history.
thirteen minutes into the game, #83 Brendan Harris of the Jacksonville Icemen got a holding penalty. Ten seconds later, #8 Peter Tischke of the Jacksonville Icemen got a penalty for cross-checking giving the Tahoe Knight Monsters a 5-on-3 powerplay. The Knight Monsters did not score on the 5-on-3 powerplay. With just over three minutes left in the period, the Icemen tied the game. #9 Logan Cockerill scored the goal. #10 Christopher Brown and #19 Zach Jordan got the assists. Cockerill just skated in front of the net and jammed it in. There were three Knight Monsters defenders in the area but none of them challenged Cockerill really. There was a soft poke check but none of the defenders stopped him from skating towards the net.
The score was tied at 1-1 after the first period.
Seven minutes into the second period, #46 Samuel Mayer of the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a penalty for roughing and #19 Zach Jordan of the Jacksonville Icemen received a penalty for Tripping. Eight Minutes into the second period, the Icemen scored. #83 Brendan Harris scored his second goal of the game. His goal was assisted byb #9 Logan Cockerill and #27 Robert Calisti.
Nine minutes into the game, #96 Brennan Kapcheck of the Knight Monsters received a slashing penalty. Less than a minute later the Icemen took a two goal lead on the powerplay. #19 Zach Jordan scored the goal. His goal was assisted by #10 Chirstopher Brown and #27 Robert Calisti. Vikman came way out of the net to block a shot. The rebound went right in front where Jordan was able to put it in. This one was just a couple of unlucky bounces.
Eleven minutes into the second period, #39 David Koch of the Icemen received a slashing penalty. The score was 1-2 with the Jacksonville Icemen leading heading into the third period.
Thirteen minutes into the third period, #13 Simon Pinard of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for roughing and #51 Garrett Van Wyhe of the Icemen received a penalty for hooking. Forty seconds later, the Knight Monsters scored to bring the game back within one goal. #96 Brennan Kapcheck scored the goal. It was assisted by #10 Jett Jones and #55 Chris Dodero.
Fifteen minutes into the third period, #11 Chase Lang of the Icemen received a penalty for interference. Seventeen minutes into the third period, the Knight Monsters tied the game with a goal from #13 Simon Pinard. His goal was assisted by #96 Brennan Kapcheck and #21 Sloan Stanick. The goal was scored on a break away. #51 Garrett Van Wyhe of the Icemen received a penalty for hooking during the play that lead to a goal. This is the first time I have seen a team score on a delayed call and the player still getting a penalty.
The score was tied at 3-3 going after the third period. The game would go into overtime.
In the NHL overtime during the regular season is 3-on-3 sudden death for five minutes followed by a shootout. In the ECHL the 3-on-3 overtime period is seven minutes. Neither team took a penalty in overtime. Five minutes into overtime, the Icemen scored to win the game. The goal was scored by #83 Brendan Harris. It was unassisted. Harris initial shot was saved. The puck was still loose in the crease. The puck took an unlucky bounce off the defenders stick and through Vikman’s legs.
The final score was 4-3 Icemen in overtime.
As of writing this, I could not find highlights from last nights game.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters fought their way back into this game. It was a great effort from the team since they had no preseason games and this teams has not been together that long. They need work on their neutral zone play and their zone entries. They were unnecessarily giving up the puck a lot in the neutral zone or were giving up the puck right after entering the offensive zone. The Knight Monsters were being outplayed physically. They were not winning puck battles. They were not getting sustained offensive zone time during 5-on-5 play. They were only able to tie the game up because of a stretch pass to a player who was cherry picking. There is plenty of time and room for improvement from the team. #48 Anthony Collins is quickly becoming a fan favorite after Harassing the Icemen all night.
The building is small. It is really small when it is at full capacity. The atmosphere was great. The fans were into it the whole time. It did quiet down for a minute but as soon as they scored that second goal the fans were right in it an anxious for that third goal. There was a lot of first game bugs last night. That is why they should have had a preseason game even if it just was a team scrimmage. The intros were very sloppy. Especially for the first game of the season and a team affiliated with the Vegas Golden Knights. The rink was not freezing quick enough. The whole rink was like a lake to start each period. There was a huge delay before the first period because of the water. They took to long after the intros for the ceremonially puck drop. They had like twenty people on the ice for the puck drop and the ownership did a whole speech. If you are going to give a speech do it before the intros. The officials seemed annoyed by how long things were taking. The players seemed confused. The Jacksonville Icemen logo was not on the scoreboard in the broadcast. The Knight Monsters did not put out a lot pictures or videos during the game on social. The announcer was hard to hear. The scoreboard was difficult to read. I could not see the penalties on any of the scoreboards. It was game one. I am not complaining. I am just saying that these are things they can improve on. I did have fun.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters had nineteen more shots than the Jacksonville Icemen. The Jacksonville Icemen had a better shot percentage. The Icemen gave up seven more powerplays. The Icemen had six more penalty minutes. Jesper Vikman had 20 saves for an 83% saver percentage for the Knight Monsters. Matt Vernon had 36 saves for a 92% save percentage.
Tahoe Knight Monsters are now fourth in ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division. They are in a playoff spot. They are one of four ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division teams without a regulation loss.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters will take on the Jacksonville Icemen again tonight. It is another home game. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 PM. It will be the Nevada Day game.
Zac Electrifly 
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