The Tahoe Knight Monsters took on the Utah Grizzlies on Wednesday. Puck drop was at 6:10 PM. The game was at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. It was the twenty fourth game of the season. The Tahoe Knight Monsters were coming off of a 7-3 victory over the Utah Grizzlies. The Knight Monsters were on a seven game winning streak. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had a record of 15-6-2. The Knight Monsters were in 7th place in the ECHL. The Knight Monsters were 3rd 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 three games. The Grizzlies were coming off of a 3-7 loss to the Tahoe Knight Monsters. The Grizzlies were on a thirteen game losing streak. The Grizzlies had a record of 5-16-2. The Grizzlies were in 28th place in the ECHL. That is second to last. The Grizzlies erte 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 three games. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had ten more wins. The Knight Monsters had the better points percentage. The Tahoe Knight Monsters scored thirty four more goals. The Utah Grizzlies allowed thirty eight more goals. The Knight Monsters had the better goal differential. The Knight Monsters had twenty more points. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had 250 penalty minutes. The Utah Grizzlies had 222 penalty minutes. Would the Knight Monsters continue their winning streak? Would the Grizzlies break their losing streak?
#1 Jesper Vikman was in net for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. This was his twelfth start for the Tahoe Knight Monsters this season. On Monday, the Tahoe Knight Monsters traded defender Elijah Vilio and forward Chris Dodero to the Cincinnati Cyclones in exchange for defender Matt Murphy. On Tuesday, the Tahoe Knight Monsters released defender Ryan Orgel. On Wednesday, forward Logan Nelson and forward Adam Pitters were activated from reserve by the Tahoe Knight Monsters by the Knight Monsters. Forward Blake Christensen was placed on reserve by the Knight Monsters. #39 Jake Barczewski got the start in net for the Utah Grizzlies. It was his sixth start of the season for the Grizzlies. On Wednesday, the Utah Grizzlies signed defender Cody Corbett. Defender Bryan Yoon and forward Aaron Aragon were activated from reserve by the Grizzlies. Defender Kade Jensen, forward cameron Buhl, forward Brayden Nicholetts, forward Tyson Upper, and defender Kabore Dunn were placed on reserve by the Grizzlies.
Five minutes into the game, #19 Luke Adam of the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a penalty for holding. With seven minutes left in the first period, the Knight Monsters took the lead. #15 Jake McGrew scored an unassisted goal.
With under five minutes left in the first period, #3 Adam Pitters of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for fighting, #6 Cade Neilson of the Utah Grizzlies received a penalty for fighting, and #3 Craig Armstong received a penalty for holding. This resulted in a Knight Monsters powerplay. On the powerplay, #10 Jett Jones scored to give the Knight Monsters a two goal lead. His goal was assisted by #21 Sloan Stanick and #23 Jake Johnson.
With two minutes left in the first period, the Knight Monsters took a three goal lead. The goal was scored by #21 Dloan Stanick. #12 Bear Hughes got the assist.
With a minute to go in the third period, the Knight Monsters took a four goal lead. The goal was scored by #15 Jake McGrew and assisted by #28 Logan Nelson.
The score was 4-0 Tahoe Knight Monsters after the first period.
The Utah Grizzlies started the period with a goalie change. After giving up four goals on eleven shots #39 Jake Barczewski was out and #35 Vinny Duplessis was in. Seven minutes into the second period, the Utah Grizzlies got on the board. #17 Reed Lebster scored the goal. #5 Derek Daschke and #14 Briley Wood got the assists. The Tahoe Knight Monsters still had a three goal lead after this goal.
Roughly twenty seconds after the Grizzlies first goal, they scored again. #13 Dylan Fitze scored the goal. #15 Aaron Aragon got the assist. The Knight Monsters still had a two goal lead after this goal.
Forty one seconds after the Grizzlies second goal, the Grizzlies scored their third goal in just over a minute. #16 Luke Manning scored the goal. His goal was assisted by #25 Cole Gallant and #6 Andrew Nielsen. The Knight Monsters still had the lead after the this goal.
With six minutes left in the second period, the Utah Grizzlies tied the game. #15 Aaron Aragon scored the tying goal. #100 Mick Messner and #5 Derek Daschke got the assists.
Less than a minute after the Grizzlies tied the game, the Knight Monsters retook the lead. #10 Jett Jones scored the goal. #49 Artur Cholach and #96 Brennan Kapcheck got the assists.
With thirty seven seconds left in the second period, the Knight Monsters took a two goal lead. #10 Jett Jones scored to complete the hat trick. His goal was assisted by #19 Luke Adam.
The score was 6-4 Knight Monsters after the second period.
Twelve minutes into the third period, #14 Patrick Newell of the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a penalty for slashing. On the powerplay, the Utah Grizzlies scored to bring the lead back down to one goal. #8 Keaton Mastrodonato scored the goal. #10 Mick Messner and #22 Neil Shea got assists.
With just under four minutes left in the game, the Grizzlies tied the game. #14 Briley Wood scored the goal. #42 Cole Fonstad and #6 Andrew Nielsen got the assists.
The score was tied at 6-6 after the third period. The game went into overtime.
Fifty three seconds into overtime, #96 Brenan Kapcheck scored to win the game for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. His goal was assisted by #13 Simon Pinard and #12 Bear Hughes.
The final score was 7-6 Tahoe Knight Monsters.
https://echl.com/videos/tahoe-knight-monsters-vs-utah-grizzlies-dec-18-2024
The Tahoe Knight Monsters offense continues to be on fire. The Utah Grizzlies defense continues to be able to do nothing about it. This game was a lot closer than it should have been. Both teams traded scoring four unassisted goals. The Knight Monsters had a strong first period. Then they had to bounce back in the second period. Then they had a weak third period. They were able to get the win in the end. They were not consistent in this game. I would have liked to see more consistency from them. Giving up a four goal lead is not good. Despite some rough patches they stayed in the game and didn’t give up. On the Grizzlies side, what can they do? Nothing is working. They can’t even get a lead against the Knight Monsters. Even if the Grizzlies win a game soon, they will likely go on another long losing streak. They might get their top goalie back from the Colorado Eagles but that will not fix their defensive issues. They could make some coaching changes. Bringing in a new coach might motivate the players but it probably won’t solve any defensive or coaching issues. They could make some roster moves. It does not seem like the Grizzlies are looking to make too many roster moves. They have been consistently making a lot of roster moves and trying different things to find something that works. Unfortunately for them they are either not looking to trade to get out of their situation like the Cincinnati Cyclones did or no one is willing to trade with them. Either way the Grizzlies are cooked. There already may not be enough time left in the season for them to make a push for the playoffs. They are sixteen points out of a playoff spot. They would have to win eight games in a row with no one ahead of them winning to tie for the last playoff spot. They may be able to move out of last place, but they are likely not making the playoffs. This was the first game where the Tahoe Knight Monsters won their alternate gold jerseys. This was also the first time that the Tahoe Knight Monsters got hat tricks in back to back games. #10 Jett Jones got a hat trick in this game. #21 Sloan Stanick got a hat trick in the previous game. The Tahoe Knight Monsters have now won eight games in a row. The Utah Grizzlies have now lost fourteen games in a row.
The Utah Grizzlies had five more shots. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had the better shot percentage. The Knight Monsters had two more penalty minutes. #1 Jesper Vikman saved 35 shots for a 85% save percentage for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. #39 Jake Barczewski saved 7 of 11 shots for a 63% save percentage for the Utah Grizzlies. #36 Vinny Duplessis saved 22 of 25 shots for an 88% save percentage. In total the Utah Grizzlies saved 29 shots for an 81% save percentage.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters now have a record of 16-6-2 with 24 points in 24 games. The Knight Monsters are in 6th place in ECHL. They are in 3rd 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 six points into a playoff spot. They are just one point away from the top spot in the division. They have the highest points percentage in the division. This eight game winning is the longest winning streak ever in Tahoe Knight Monsters history. Right now the Knight Monsters have the longest current winning streak in the ECHL. The Knight Monsters are still four games away from getting on the ECHLs longest winning streak, one season list. The Utah Grizzlies have the longest active current losing streak at fourteen games. The Grizzlies are one loss away from getting on the ECHLs longest winless streak, one season list.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters take on the Utah Grizzlies for game twenty five on Friday, December 20th. It will be an away game. That will be the second of three games in Utah. That will be the fifth of six games where the Tahoe Knight Monsters play the Utah Grizzlies. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:10 PM. This is another divisional game.
Zac Electrifly 
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