The Tahoe Knight Monsters took on the Kansas City Mavericks on Saturday. Puck drop was at 7:00 PM. The game was at the Tahoe Blue Event Center. It was the thirteenth game of the season. The Tahoe Knight Monsters were coming off of a 5-4 overtime victory to the Kansas City Mavericks. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had a record of 7-3-2. The Knight Monsters were in 12th place in the ECHL. The Knight Monsters were 6th in the Western Conference and 4th in the Mountain Division. The Kansas City Mavericks are the ECHL affiliate of the Seattle Kraken. The Mavericks played fourteen games. The Mavericks were coming off of a 5-6 overtime loss to the Tahoe Knight Monsters. The Mavericks had a record of 8-4-2. The Mavericks were in 9th place in the ECHL. The Mavericks were in 5th place in the Western Conference and 3rd place in the Mountain Division.
The Kansas City Mavericks played two more games. The Mavericks had one more win. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had the better points percentage. The Mavericks had scored nine more goals. The Mavericks had allowed seven more goals. The Mavericks had the better goal differential. The Mavericks had two more points. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had 130 penalty minutes. The Kansas City Mavericks had 239 penalty minutes. Would the Tahoe Knight Monsters turn this into a winning streak? How would the Kansas City Mavericks respond after a close loss?
#30 Jordan Papirny was in net for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. This was his sixth start of the season for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. The Tahoe Knight Monsters placed defender Daniil Chayka on 14-day injured reserve. #33 Victor Ostman got the start in net for the Kansas City Mavericks. This was his tenth start of the season for the Mavericks. The Kansas City Mavericks brought in goaltender Justin Sand as their back up for this game after goaltender Jack LaFontaine left the ice in overtime of the last game. Justin Sand does play for the Reno Ice Raiders.
One minute into the game, the Kansas City Mavericks took the lead on a goal scored by #28 Cade Borchardt. His goal was assisted by #15 Marcus Crawford and #6 Justin MacPherson. Borchardt was left wide open by the goal. He was able to score easily on a pass.
with under four minutes left in the first period, #14 Patrick Newell of the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a penalty for roughing and #18 Damien Giroux of the Mavericks received a penalty for roughing. The score was 1-0 Kansas City Mavericks after the first period.
Eightee seconds into the second period, #22 Cal Kiefiuk of the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a penalty for roughing. Three minutes into the second period, #96 Brennan Kapcheck of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for high-sticking. Seven minutes into the second period, #55 Chris Dodero of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Twelve minutes into the second period, #28 Cade Borchardt of the Kansas City Mavericks received a penalty for tripping. With under three minutes left in the second period, #44 Max Andreev of the Kansas City Mavericks received a penalty for holding. Less than thirty seconds after the Mavericks penalty, #55 Chris Dodero of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for hooking. Neither team scored in the second period. The score was 1-0 Kansas City Mavericks going into the third period.
Three minutes into the third period, #81 Blake Christensen of the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a penalty for interference. Six minutes into the third period, the Kansas City Mavericks took a two goal lead with a goal from #8 Luke Loheit. His goal was assisted by #18 Damien Giroux and #23 David Noel. Loheit got the puck along the boards. He skated towards center. His shot from the roulette wheel went in.
With just over four minutes left in the game, the Knight Monsters pulled their goalie. On the 6-on-5 the Knight Monsters cut the lead in half. The goal was scored by #81 Blake Christensen. It was assisted by #9 Troy Loggins. After a scramble for the puck in the offensive zone, the puck would come loose. Loggins got the puck inside of the faceoff circle. He passed it to Christensen who was in the high slot. Christensen let a one timer go that beat the goalie high.
With under two minutes left in the game, #44 Max Andreev of the Mavericks received a double minor penalty for high-sticking. Less than thirty seconds later #81 Blake Christensen of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for holding. The final score was 2-1 Kansas City Mavericks.
There was not a full highlight video available as of writing this.
It was a sloppy performance on the Tahoe Knight Monsters part. They were not moving their feet. Especially in the defensive zone. They were giving up too many unforced turnovers. The passes were not where they needed to be. Of the passes were straight to the Kansas City Mavericks in the slot. The Knight Monsters were not getting a lot of rebounds or second and third chances. Majority of the shots were right at the chest of the Mavericks goalie. The Knight Monsters were unable to build any offensive momentum. They could not get sustained 5-on-5 pressure in the Mavericks zone. They also had a bunch of penalties that forced them to play less aggressive for most of the game. Turnovers and penalties killed any chance of a comeback late in the game.
The Kansas City Mavericks had eight more shots. The Mavericks had the better shot percentage. The Knight Monsters had four more penalty minutes. #30 Jordan Papirny saved 37 shots for a 95% save percentage for the Knight Monsters. #33 Victor Ostman saved 30 shots for a 97% save percentage for the Mavericks.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters now have a record of 7-4-2 with 16 points in 13 games. The Knight Monsters are in 15th place in ECHL. They are in 7th place in the ECHL Western Conference. They are in 5th place in the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division. They are one point from a playoff spot. They are 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 Idaho Steelheads for game fourteen on Wednesday, November 27th. It will be an away game. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:10 PM. This is another divisional game.
Zac Electrifly 
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