The Tahoe Knight Monsters took on the Jacksonville Icemen last night. Puck drop was at 7:30 PM. The game was at the Tahoe Blue Events Center. It was the second game of the season. The Tahoe Knight Monsters are the Vegas Golden Knights ECHL affiliate. They were coming off of a 3-4 loss to the Jacksonville Icemen. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had a record of 0-0-1 going into the game. They were in 21st place in the ECHL. They were 8th in the Western Conference and 4th in the Mountain Division. The Jacksonville Icemen are the ECHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabers. The Jacksonville Icemen played two regular season games before last night. The Icemen were coming off of a 4-3 overtime win over the Tahoe Knight Monsters. The Jacksonville Icemen had a record of 1-0-1 going into the game. The Jacksonville Icemen were in 10th place in the ECHL. They were in 5th place in the Eastern Conference and 3rd place in the South Division. The all-time record between the Tahoe Knight Monsters and the Jacksonville Icemen was 0-0-1. They last played on Thursday, October 24th, 2024. The Knight Monsters lost that game 3-4 in overtime.
The Jacksonville Icemen have played more games. The Icemen have the better record. The Icemen have scored three more goals. The Icemen have allowed two more goals. The Icemen have the better goal differential. The Icemen have more points. The Tahoe Knight Monsters fought back in the game the night before. They had a lot they need to work on after their first game. There was hope for improvements in this game. Game one was a physical game. Game two was going to be a physical game too. The Tahoe Knight Monsters were looking for their first ever win. The Jacksonville Icemen were look for another win. Both teams are were undefeated in regulation heading into this game. The Icemen had back to back games where they have given up two goal leads going into this game. I was looking for the Knight Monsters to take advantage of the Icemen inability to keep a lead.
#1 Jesper Vikman (Yes-per Vike-Man) got the start in net for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. This was Vikman’s second start in net. He has now played back to back games as the starting goaltender for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. #35 Justin Close got the start in net for the Jacksonville Icemen. This was Close first start in net.
Two minutes into the game, #26 Nate Kallen of the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a tripping penalty. Less than a minute later, #11 Chase Lang of the Jacksonville Icemen received two penalties for roughing and #96 Brennan Kapcheck of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for roughing. Nine minutes into the game, #27 Robert Calisti of the Icemen received a penalty for holding. Fifteen seconds later, #9 Troy Loggins scored on the powerplay to give the Knight Monsters the lead. His goal was assisted by #15 Jake McGrew. Loggins was open on the wing. McGrew got him the puck. The Loggins took a one timer and launched the puck into the back of the net.
Ten minutes into the game, the Icemen received a bench minor for too many men on the ice. Fifteen minutes into the game, #17 Ty Cheveldayoff of the Icemen received a penalty for tripping. With less than a minute left in the first period, #28 Logan Nelson of the Knight Monsters was called for tripping. The score was 1-0 Knight Monsters after the first period.
Tweleve seconds into the second period, #46 Samuel Mayer of the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a penalty for cross-checking. This penalty made it a 5-on-3 powerplay. Twelve seconds later #19 Zach Jordan of the Jacksonville Icemen received a penalty for interference. This penalty made it a 4-on-3 powerplay. One minute and thirty seconds into the second period, #4 Brandon Tabakin scored short handed to give the Tahoe Knight Monsters a two goal lead. His goal was assisted by Bear Hughes. The play started on a faceoff in the Knight Monsters zone. There was a battle for the puck in the corner. Three out of the four Icemen players were involved in that puck battle. The Knight Monsters managed to gain control of the puck. They were able to get around the only defender creating a two man breakaway. On the break away Hughes passed the puck to Tabakin who put it in the back of the net. It was a great effort on the Knight Monsters part to win the puck battle and recognize that the Icemen players were out of position. On the Icemen’s part, they had no awareness early in the pay of where the Knight Monsters were. Having three players that deep in the offensive zone all on the same place was not good awareness when they did not have possession of the puck. It opened up a lot of ice. The other Icemen defender should have started going back to his defensive zone as soon as the puck was loose with two Knight Monsters players in an attacking position. At the very least it could have been a 2-on-1 instead of a two man breakaway. It could have slowed down the play. Instead that choice lead to the breakaway. The goaltender was not at fault here. It looked like he was setting up to block the shot and hoping that a pass missed.
Six minutes into the second period, #17 Ty Cheveldayoff of the Icemen received a penalty for roughing and #46 Samual Mayer of the Knight Monsters was called for roughing. Thirteen minutes into the second period, #27 Robert Calisti of the Icemen received a penalty for roughing. With less than two minutes left in the second period, #22 Justin McRay of the Icemen and #10 Jett Jones of the Knight Monsters received ten minute misconducts for Inciting. The score heading into the third period was 2-0 Knight Monsters.
Six minutes into the third period, #46 Samuel Mayer of the Knight Monsters received a five minute major and a ten minute misconduct for boarding. The play was behind the Knight Monsters net. #13 Chris Grando of the Icemen was trying to play the puck along the boards behind the net. Grando put his head down as Mayer went in for a hit. That put Grando in a bad spot where the hit landed directly with his head. Grando was on the ground. Play stopped. Grando did eventually get up and later left the rink. I do not think he returned to the game. These situations suck and are why hockey players have to keep their heads up.
Nine minutes into the third period, the Icemen scored on the powerplay to bring the score back to within one goal. #39 Davis Koch scored the goal. #9 Logan Cockerill and #27 Robert Calisti. Cockerill passed the puck in front of the net. Koch was able to find the back of the net. The Knight Monsters gave Cockerill too much room in the offensive zone. They were not able to stop the pass in front.
Twelve minutes into the third period, #12 Liam Coughlin of the Icemen received a penalty for cross-checking. With under three minutes left in the game, the Icemen pulled their goalie. He was briefly put back in after an icing and then pulled again. With under a minute left in the game, #12 Bear Hughes scored an empty net goal for the Knight Monsters to regain a two goal lead. His goal was assisted by #13 Simon Pinard. The crowd was hoping for an empty net goal. The Knight Monsters almost got one that went off the post. The Knight Monsters got the puck out of their zone and Hughes would carry the puck across the blue line and score.
The final score was 3-1 Knight Monsters. This was the Tahoe Knight Monsters first ever win.
https://echl.com/videos/jacksonville-icemen-vs-tahoe-knight-monsters-oct-25-2024
The Tahoe Knight Monsters made a lot of improvements in a short amount of time. They did a lot better with their physical play. They did a lot better with moving the puck through the neutral zone. They did a lot better with their offensive zone entries. They did a lot better with puck battles. Vikman played really well. He should have gotten a shutout. He made some spectacular saves. It is nice to see the Knight Monsters can win close games. Especially early in the season. This game was more chippy than Thursdays game. There was a lot more extra curricular activity in this game #17 Ty Cheveldayoff of the Icemen has become hated by the Knight Monsters fanbase. He went around both games got into a lot of peoples faces or did things after plays without being willing to fight. #48 Anthony Collins aka “Collins the crusher” of the Knight Monsters continued to become more of a fan favorite especially after getting into it with Cheveldayoff. Right now the main question early in the season is can the Knight Monsters build on this success? The second question is can they continue to improve?
The Knight Monsters had five more shots. The Knight Monsters had the better shot percentage. The Icemen gave up two more powerplays. The Knight Monsters had seven more penalty minutes. Vikman had 32 saves for a 97% save percentage for the Knight Monsters. Close made 35 saves for a 92% save percentage for the Icemen.
Tahoe Knight Monsters are remain at 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 Idaho Steelheads for game three on Thursday, October 31st. It will be a home game. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM. The game is on Halloween. The theme will be Monster Mash.
Zac Electrifly 
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