The Tahoe Knight Monsters took on the Rapid City Rush on Sunday. Puck drop was at 6:00 PM. The game was at The Monument in Rapid City, South Dakota. It was the thirty fifth game of the season. The Knight Monsters were coming off of a 6-4 victory over the Rapid City Rush. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had a record of 22-9-3. The Knight Monsters were in 5th place in the ECHL. The Knight Monsters were 2nd in the Western Conference and 1st in the Mountain Division. The Rapid City Rush are the ECHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames. The Rush had played thirty four games. The Rush were coming off of a 4-6 loss to the Tahoe Knight Monsters. The Rush had a record of 9-18-7. The Rush were in 29th place in the ECHL which is last. The Rush were in 15th place in the ECHL Western Conference which is last. The Rush were in 8th place in the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division which is also last.
Both teams had played thirty four games. The Knight Monsters had thirteen more wins. The Knight Monsters had the better points percentage. The Knight Monsters had scored fifty more goals. The Rapid City Rush had allowed eighteen more goals. The Knight Monsters had the better goal differential. The Knight Monsters had twenty two more points. This was the sixth game of a nine game road trip for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. This was the last game of the road trip in Rapid City. The Knight Monsters are looking to extend their winning streak to four games. The Knight Monsters were going to stay in the number one spot in the division no matter the result of this game due to games already played on Sunday. The Rapid City Rush were looking for an upset. Would the Tahoe Knight Monsters continue their reign on top of the division with another win? Would the Rapid City Rush get a upset?
#1 Jesper Vikman was in net for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. It was his nineteenth start of the season for the Knight Monsters. On Sunday, forward Jakub Demek was activated from reserve by the Knight Monsters. Defender Brennan Kapcheck was placed on reserve by the Knight Monsters. #33 Christian Propp got the start in net for the Rapid City Rush. It was his ninth start of the season. On Sunday, forward Jack Jeffers was activated from reserve by the Rush. Forward Garrett Klotz was placed on reserve by the Rush.
Three minutes into the game, the Rapid City Rush took the lead. #7 Deni Goure scored the first goal of the game. His goal was assisted by #24 Chaz Smedsrud and #43 Parker Bowman. The rush connected on a 2-on-1 breakaway to take the lead.
Thirteen seconds after taking the lead, #20 Holden Wale of the Rush received a penalty for delay of game. Six minutes into the game, #3 Adam Pitters of the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a penalty for interference. The score was 1-0 Rush after the first period.
Just under two minutes into the second period, the Rapid City Rush scored to take a two goal lead. The goal was scored by #20 Holden Wale. His goal was assisted by #68 Billy Canstantnou and #10 Maurizio Colella. The Rush were cycling the puck in the offensive zone. A shot from the point found the back of the net. This was a low percentage shot with no pressure on net. The Tahoe Knight Monsters should have been able to stop the puck.
Five minutes into the second period the Knight Monsters would find the back of the net. #13 Simon Pinard scored the goal. His goal was unassisted. His goal cut the lead back down to one goal. The Knight Monsters entered the offensive zone under pressure from the Rush. The Rush broke up a pass but were not able to get it out of danger. Pinard found the puck and scored. This was a solid play by the Knight Monsters to overwhelm the Rush on the offensive zone entry.
Seven minutes into the second period. #49 Artur Cholach of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for slashing. The score was 2-1 Rapid City Rush going into the third period.
With under five minutes left in the game, #19 Luke Adam of the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a penalty for slashing. On the powerplay, the Rapid City Rush scored to retake a two goal lead. #24 Chaz Smedsrud scored the goal. #13 Ryan Wagner and #7 Deni Goure got the assists. The Rush were cycling the puck in the Tahoe Knight Monsters zone on the powerplay. The puck was taken along the boards. The puck was passed into the slot. Smedsrud took a one timer that found the back of the net. This one comes down to the Knight Monsters defender coming over too much on the player along the boards leaving Smedsrud open in the middle.
With three minutes left in the game, the Tahoe Knight Monsters pulled their goalie. With a minute left in the game, the Knight Monsters scored. #19 Luke Adam scored the goal. #27 Jakub Demek and #28 Logan Nelson got the assists. This goal brought the lead back down to one goal. The Knight Monsters were able to score a greasy goal with four guys touching the puck in the slot before it went in.
With a minute left to play, the Knight Monsters pulled their goalie again. The neither team would score during the final minute of play. The final score 3-2 Rapid City Rush. After the game #13 Ryan Wagner of the Rapid City Rush received a penalty for abuse of officials.
https://echl.com/videos/tahoe-knight-monsters-vs-rapid-city-rush-jan-12-2025
The Rapid City Rush scored first. This would be another game where the Tahoe Knight Monsters would have to come from behind to win. The Rush took an early lead in the second period. The Knight Monsters did well to limit the damage with a goal of their own shortly after. With the Rush still leading by a goal after two periods, the Knight Monsters needed another third period come back to get a win. The penalty by the Knight Monsters that allowed the Rush to score and go back up by two goals, stopped any momentum towards a tying goal. Despite a late Knight Monsters goal, the Rush held on to get the upset. This was the Tahoe Knight Monsters first ever loss against the Rapid City Rush. The Knight Monsters did well to limit the Rush. They kept the game within one goal for most of the game. They didn’t really allow the rush to build a lead. In a close game like this penalties are killer. The third period penalty really was the dagger to the heart for a potential tying goal. At the same time, the penalty was not the only reason the Knight Monsters loss. They had a solid lack of offense all game. They never really got going on the offensive end of things. The Knight Monsters ran into a brick wall with this game. They have had to come from behind in a lot of their recent wins. They have done really well playing from behind and executing their game plan in those situation. Unfortunately, sometimes the tying goal never comes. The brick wall in this case was not getting the tying goal. Overall I think this has been a good road trip so far. I think these last three games against the Rush were an overall win. The Knight Monsters are at the top of the division and can continue to fight for it going into these last three games of the road trip. #13 Ryan Wagner of the Rapid City Rush was the first ever player to get a game misconduct in a Tahoe Knight Monsters game. He may be facing additional games suspended.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters had five more shots. The Rapid City Rush had the better shot percentage. The Rapid City Rush had six more penalty minutes. #1 Jesper Vikman saved 24 shots for a 89% save percentage for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. #33 Christian Propp saved 30 shots for a 94% save percentage for the Rapid City Rush.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters have a record of 22-10-3 with 47 points in 35 games. The Knight Monsters are in 5th place in ECHL. They are in 2nd place in the ECHL Western Conference. They are still in 1st place in the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division. They are in a playoff spot. They are still eight points into a playoff spot. They have the highest points percentage in the division. The Knight Monsters are five points away from the top spot in the ECHL and the top spot in the ECHL Western Conference.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters take on the Iowa Heartlanders for the first time ever. It will be game thirty six on Friday, January 17th. It will be an away game. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:00 PM. This will be a conference game. This will be first game of the stint in Iowa and game seven of the nine game road trip.
Zac Electrifly 
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