The Tahoe Knight Monsters took on the Utah Grizzlies on Sunday. Puck drop was at 7:00 PM. The game was at the Tahoe Blue Event Center in Stateline, Nevada. It was the twenty first game of the season. The Tahoe Knight Monsters were coming off of a 5-3 victory over the Tulsa Oilers. The Knight Monsters were on a four game winning streak. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had a record of 12-6-2. The Knight Monsters were in 10th place in the ECHL. The Knight Monsters were 4th in the Western Conference and 2nd in the Mountain Division. The Utah Grizzlies are the ECHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche. The Grizzlies played twenty games. The Grizzlies were coming off of a 3-10 blowout loss to the Kansas City Mavericks. The Grizzlies were on a ten game losing streak. The Grizzlies had a record of 5-13-2. The Grizzlies were in 28th place in the ECHL. That is second to last. The Grizzlies were in 14th place in the Western Conference which is also second to last place. They were in 8th place in the Mountain Division which is last.
Both teams played twenty games. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had seven more wins. The Knight Monsters had the better points percentage. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had scored twenty one more goals. The Utah Grizzlies had allowed twenty five more goals. The Knight Monsters had the better goal differential. The Knight Monsters had fourteen more points. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had 202 penalty minutes. The Utah Grizzlies had 232 penalty minutes. Would the Knight Monsters extend their winning streak? Would the Grizzlies break their losing streak?
#1 Jesper Vikman was in net for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. This was his tenth start for the Tahoe Knight Monsters this season. On Thursday, the Tahoe Knight Monsters traded C.J. Hayes to the Toledo Walleye for future considerations. #35 Vinny Duplessis got the start in net for the Utah Grizzlies. It was his fourth start in net for the Grizzlies this season. On Sunday, the Utah Grizzlies released Sam Lofquist. The Grizzlies acquired Darik Angeli from the Florida Everblades. On Monday, goaltender Adam Scheel was recalled by the Colorado Eagles. On Tuesday, goaltender Vincent Duplessis was activated from reserve by the Grizzlies. Forward Darik Angeli was suspended by the Grizzlies to keep him on the roster. On Thursday, the Grizzlies released defender Kyle Pow. The Grizzlies signed forward Brayden Nicholetts. Forward Keaton Mastrodonato was assigned to the Grizzlies from the Colorado Eagles. Defender James Shearer, defender Derek Daschke, and forward Reed Lebster were activated from injured reserve by the Grizzlies. Defender Derek Daschke, forward Reed Lebster, defender Dilan Savenkov, and forward Adam Berg were placed on injured reserve by the Grizzlies. Forward Brayden Nicholettes, and forward Tyson Upper were placed on reserve.
Three minutes into the game, the Utah Grizzlies took the lead. The goal was scored by #15 Aaron Aragon. His goal was assisted by #27 Cade Neilson and #74 James Shearer. Three of the Tahoe Knight Monsters were behind the goal line in their defensive zone. No one was guarding the slot or in front of the net. Aragon was wide open in the slot. Neilson was able to get him the puck. His one timer found the back of the net.
Five minutes into the game, the Knight Monsters tied the game. #10 Jett Jones scored the tying goal. His goal was assisted by #19 Luke Adam. Adam got the puck behing the Grizzlies net. He put up a blind pass to the slot. Jones was there to put the puck in the net. This play developed a lot like the Grizzlies first goal. Three of the Grizzlies defenders were behind the net with a fourth defender looking to join two others in chasing the puck carrier. This left the front of the net open. Adam read the play pretty well and was able to put the puck where it needed to go.
Nine minutes into the game, the Knight Monsters took the lead. #48 Anthony Collins scored the go ahead goal. His goal was assisted by #26 Nate Kallen and #81 Blake Christensen. The Knight Monsters won an offensive zone faceoff. Christensen got the puck back to Collins who hammered it in from the blue line.
With under seven minutes left in the first period, the Knight Monsters took a two goal lead. #13 Simon Pinard scored the goal. His goal was assisted by #28 Logan Nelson and #21 Sloan Stanick. On the rush, Stanick got the puck to Nelson. Nelson had space in the offensive zone. He took a shot that went off the post. Pinard was able to clean up the rebound.
After giving up the his third goal on nine shots, the Utah Grizzlies pulled the goalie #35 Vinny Duplessis. #39 Jake Barczewski was put in net. With under a minute left in the first period, #6 Andrew Nielsen of the Utah Grizzlies received a penalty for slashing. On the powerplay, #14 Patrick Newell scored to give the Knight Monsters a three goal lead. His goal was assisted by #15 Jake McGrew and #19 Luke Adam. The Knight Monsters won the first faceoff of the powerplay. They cycled the puck. Eventually the puck would land on the stick of McGrew in front of the net. McGrew made a quick backhand pass to Newell who was also right in front of the net. McGrew was able to get a shot off right in front of the net with little pressure form the goalie or the defense. There was no pressure at all on any of the puck carriers on this play. Eventually one defender was taken out of the play by being on the ground. The Grizzlies did not shift lower into their own zone as the play developed. Instead they waited until the play already happened to move. They also did nothing to stop the play from developing the way it did.
The score was 4-1 Tahoe Knight Monsters after the first period.
Five minutes into the second period, the Tahoe Grizzlies scored to bring the lead back down to two goals. #16 Luke Manning scored the goal. His goal was assisted by #14 Briley Wood. Wood took a shot from the point. His shot hit his own player. The puck was not cleared. Manning got to the puck first and scored. This play developed on the rush. It was a quick shot after the Grizzlies entered the zone. The Knight Monsters were still getting into defending positions. They were not able to get to the puck first.
Eight minutes into the second period, the Knight Monsters regained their three goal lead with a goal from #17 Adam Robbins. His goal was assisted by #21 Sloan Stanick and #23 Jake Johnson. On the rush, Stanick took the puck behind the net. He passed the puck across the crease to Robbins who scored pretty easily. Once again a Knight Monsters player was left open in front of the net.
Nine minutes into the second period, the Knight Monsters had a goal waved off. I believe it was for goaltender interference. Eleven minutes into the second period, #81 Blake Christensen of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for tripping. With under two minutes left in the second period, the Knight Monsters scored again. #9 Troy Loggins scored the goal. His goal was assisted by #15 Jake McGrew and #19 Luke Adam. Once again the puck was taken behind the Grizzlies net. Loggins was wide open on the opposite side faceoff circle. His one timer found the back of the net.
The score was 6-2 Tahoe Knight Monsters heading into the third period.
Two minutes into the third period, the Tahoe Knight Monsters scored again. #15 Jake McGrew scored the goal. His goal was assisted by #19 Luke Adam and #23 Jake Johnson. The Knight Monsters were cycling the puck in the offensive zone. Adam got the puck towards the net. McGrew tapped it in.
Still two minutes into the third period, #49 Artur Cholach of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for hooking. With under six minutes left in the game, the Utah Grizzlies scored. The goal was waved off after review. From what I saw it looked like the Grizzlies player intentally redirected to the puck into the net with his shoulder. With under two minutes to go in the game, the Knight Monsters scored another one. #81 Blake Christensen got the goal. His goal was assisted by #19 Luke Adam and #26 Nate Kallen. Adam again took the puck behind the net. He passed it to Christensen in front of the net who scored.
The final score was 8-2 Tahoe Knight Monsters.
https://echl.com/videos/utah-grizzlies-vs-tahoe-knight-monsters-dec-12-2024
The Utah Grizzlies made a lot of moves leading up to this game. Likely they are trying to break their losing streak any way possible. Their coach is switching things up during a slump to find what works. This is very common in pro sports. It didn’t help them though. The Utah Grizzlies let the Tahoe Knight Monsters do whatever they wanted for most of the game. The Knight Monsters spent a lot of time with the puck and moving the puck without being challenged. The Knight Monsters were able to just skate through the Grizzlies defense like it was practice. The Grizzlies never gave most of their plays a chance to develop. They would often enter the Knight Monsters end, shoot the puck, then the Knight Monsters would clear it. They did not give them the chance to create very many plays. After that game the Grizzlies seem to be a terrible team. On the other hand the hot offense of the Knight Monsters took advantage of the space the Grizzlies gave them all game. The Tahoe Knight Monsters have now extended their winning streak to five games. The Utah Grizzlies have extended their losing streak to eleven games.
The Knight Monsters had more one more shot. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had the better shot percentage. The Knight Monsters had two more penalty minutes. #1 Jesper Vikman saved 36 shots for a 95% save percentage for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. #35 Vinny Duplessis saved 6 out of 9 shots for 66% save percentage for the Grizzlies. #39 Jake Barcazewski saved 25 out of 30 shots for an 83% save percentage for the Grizzlies. In total the Utah Grizzlies saved 31 shots for a 79% save percentage.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters now have a record of 13-6-2 with 28 points in 21 games. The Knight Monsters are in 8th place in ECHL. They are in 4th place in the ECHL Western Conference. They are in 2nd place in the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division. They are in a playoff spot. They are only three points into a playoff spot. They are four points away from the top spot in the division. They have the 2nd highest points percentage in the division. This five game winning is the longest winning streak ever in Tahoe Knight Monsters history. Right now the Knight Monsters are tied with the Kansas City Mavericks for the fourth longest winning streak in the ECHL right now. The Tahoe Knight Monsters and Kansas City Mavericks are tied for the longest current winning streaks right now in the division. The Utah Grizzlies have the longest active losing streak at eleven games.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters take on the Utah Grizzlies for game twenty two on Saturday, December 14th. It will be a home game. This will be the second game of this three game home stand. This will be the second of six games where the Tahoe Knight Monsters will play the Utah Grizzlies. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM. This is another divisional game. It is also the Teddy Bear Toss.
Zac Electrifly 
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