The Tahoe Knight Monsters took on the Utah Grizzlies on Sunday. Puck drop was at 2:10 PM. The game was at the Maverik Center. It was the seventh game of the season. The Tahoe Knight Monsters are the Vegas Golden Knights ECHL affiliate. The Knight Monsters were coming off of a 4-6 defeat to the Utah Grizzlies. The Knight Monsters had a record of 3-2-1. The Knight Monsters were in 23rd place in the ECHL. The Knight Monsters were 10th in the Western Conference and 6th in the Mountain Division. The Utah Grizzlies are the ECHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche. The Grizzlies had played six games. The Grizzlies were coming off of a 6-4 win over the Tahoe Knight Monsters. The Grizzlies had a record of 4-2-0. The Grizzlies were in 20th place in the ECHL. The Grizzlies were in 9th place in the Western Conference and 5th place in the Mountain Division.
Both teams had played six games. The Utah Grizzlies had more wins. The Grizzlies had the better win percentage. The Grizzlies had scored eight more goals. The Grizzlies had allowed three more goals. The Grizzlies had the better goal differential. The Grizzlies had one more point. The Knight Monsters had 79 penalty minutes. The Grizzlies had 41 penalty minutes. Goaltending was the difference maker in the last game. It was going have an impact in this game. The Tahoe Knight Monster were looking to split this series with a win. The Utah Grizzlies were looking to sweep this series with back to back wins. Would the Grizzlies be able to win again? Would the Knight Monsters bounce back? Would there continue to be a lack of penalties?
#31 Justin Robbins was in net for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. #39 Jake Barczewski was in net for the Utah Grizzlies. This was his first start in net this season. Both of the goalies were different in this game than in Saturdays game. The Grizzlies also activated defender Chase Hartje and placed forward Reed Morison on reserve.
Four minutes into the game, the Utah Grizzlies took the lead. The goal was scored by #13 Dylan Fitze. His goal was assisted by #3 Craig Armstrong and #74 James Shearer. The Grizzlies had a 2-on-1 breakaway. The trailing defender attacked the puck carrier instead of protecting against the pass. Armstrong got the puck to Fitze who was wide open in the slot. Fitze shot went in.
Eleven minutes into the game, the Tahoe Knight Monsters tied the game. #10 Jett Jones scored the goal. #15 Jake McGrew got the assist. McGrew won an offensive zone faceoff. Jones cut across the faceoff circle to get the puck. With almost no pressure from the Grizzlies defenders, Jones took a shot that went in.
Twelve minutes into the game, #27 Cade Neilson of the Grizzlies received a penalty for faceoff infraction. On the powerplay the Knight Monsters took the lead with a goal from #14 Patrick Newell. His goal was assisted by #49 Artur Cholach and #21 Sloan Stanick. The Knight Monsters were cycling the puck. Cholach took a shot from the Bud Light can. The initial shot was saved but Newell was able to find the puck in the crease and put it in.
The score was 2-1 Tahoe Knight Monsters after the first period.
Three minutes into the second period, #17 Reed Lebster of the Utah Grizzlies received a penalty for high-sticking. On the powerplay, the Tahoe Knight Monsters scored. #13 Simon Pinard scored the powerplay goal. His goal was assisted by #21 Sloan Stanick and #12 Bear Hughes. The Knight Monsters started the play by not letting the Grizzlies clear the puck. Eight out of the nine players on the ice were all on one side of the ice. Stanick was able to get the loose puck to Pinard who was wide open on the opposite side of the offensive zone. Pinard scored on his shot. This goal gave the Knight Monsters a two goal lead.
Ten minutes into the second period, the Knight Monsters scored again. #21 Sloan Stanick scored the goal with #13 Simon Pinard and #49 Artur Cholach getting the assists. Stanick took a poor angled shot that was saved. Pinard took a wack at the rebound and his shot was saved. Stanick got the second rebound and was able to score. This goal gave the Knight Monsters a three goal lead.
Fourteen minutes into the second period, #16 Luke Manning of the Utah Grizzlies received a penalty for high-sticking. The Grizzlies would score with less than three minutes left in the second peiod. #23 Kade Jensen got the goal with #25 Cole Gallant and #14 Briley Wood getting the assists. Gallant took a shot that was saved. #15 Aaron Aragon fanned on the rebound. Jensen got the rebound and was able to score. The Knight Monsters did not get to the rebound in time and Jensen was not being guarded close enough. The Tahoe Knight Monsters still had a two goal lead after this goal.
The score was 4-2 Knight Monsters heading into the third period.
Three minutes into the third period, the Knight Monsters regained their three goal lead. #13 Simon Pinard scored the goal. His goal was assisted #12 Bear Hughes and #21 Sloan Stanick. Hughes was fighting for the puck along the boards in the offensive zone. He got the puck to Pinard who passed to Stanick who passed it back to Pinard. Pinard would score. All of this happened on the rush. It was a good play by the Knight Monsters. they got all of the Grizzlies players to watch the puck while Pinard was able to sneak in front of the net.
Six minutes into the third period, #23 Jake Johnson of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for holding. Twelve minutes into the period, #23 Jake Johnson scored. His goal was assisted by #15 Jake McGrew and #10 Jett Jones. The Knight Monsters called it for #22 Cal Kiefiuk but the ECHL called it for #23 Jake Johnson. Upon review Kiefiuk does appear to have scored the goal. Johnson was heading down the wing with space and time. McGrew got him the puck. Johnson passed it to Kiefiuk who tipped it in. This goal gave the Knight Monsters a four goal lead.
With under five minutes left in the game, #96 Brennan Kapcheck of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for roughing and #42 Nick Pasyorious of the Utah Grizzlies received a penalty for roughing. The final score was 6-2 Knight Monsters.
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Justin Robbins got his first professional win. It was a solid bounce back from the Tahoe Knight Monsters. They took advantage of their opportunities to score. It is nice to see games like this early in the season. This is a situation where they needed a win to draw back to back games and they came out swinging. Goaltending was a factor in this game. Justin Robbins was up to the task. The Knight Monsters also scored enough goals to were Robbins could comfortably play in net without worrying about mistakes too much. Two powerplay goals made a huge difference in this game. Powerplays seem to be rare against the Utah Grizzlies early on this season. The two powerplay goals just created a lead that the Grizzlies could not come back from. The Grizzlies could not find back to back wins. The Knight Monsters got their revenge for the night before. While there were more penalties in this game than the last, the Knight Monsters stayed disciplined and things went their way.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters had eight more shots. The Knight Monsters had the better shot percentage. The Utah Grizzlies had four more penalty minutes. #31 Justin Robbins saved 25 shots for a 93% save percentage for the Knight Monsters. #39 Jake Barczewski saved 29 shots for a 83% save percentage for the Grizzlies.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters now have a record of 4-2-1 with 9 points in 7 games. The Knight Monsters are now in 19th place in ECHL. They are in 9th place in the ECHL Western Conference. They are in 5th place in the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division. They are still three points away from the last playoff spot. They are now only four points away from the top spot in the division. They have the 3rd highest points percentage in the division.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters will take on the Tulsa Oilers for game eight on Wednesday, November 13th. It will be a home game. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM. This is another divisional game. Tulsa currently lead the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division.
Zac Electrifly 
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