The Tahoe Knight Monsters took on the Iowa Heartlanders on Saturday. Puck drop was at 4:00 PM. The game was at Xtream Arena in Coralville Iowa. It was the thirty seventh game of the season. The Knight Monsters were coming off of a 3-7 defeat to the Iowa Heartlanders. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had a record of 22-11-3. The Knight Monsters were in 7h place in the ECHL. The Knight Monsters were 2nd in the Western Conference and 1st in the Mountain Division. The Iowa Heartlanders are the ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild. The Heartlanders had played thirty six games this season. The Heartlanders were coming off of a 7-3 win over the Tahoe Knight Monsters. The Heartlanders had a record of 21-11-4. The Heartlanders were in 9th place in the ECHL. The Heartlanders were in 5th place in the ECHL Western Conference. The Heartlanders were in 2nd place in the ECHL Western Conference Central Division.
Both teams had played thirty six games. The Knight Monsters had one more win. The Knight Monsters had the better points percentage. The Knight Monsters had scored forty more goals. The Knight Monsters had allowed twenty three more goals. The Knight Monsters had the better goal differential. The Knight Monsters had one more point. The big question going into the game was how would the Knight Monsters respond after allowing seven goals the night before? The question for the Iowa Heartlanders was would they continue to score at will?
#30 Jordan Papirny got the start in net for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. It was fifteenth game of the season. On Saturday, forward Adam Robbins and forward Adam Pitters were activated from reserve by the Knight Monsters. Forward Anthony Collins and forward Jakub Demek were placed on reserve by the Knight Monsters. This would be the first game of the season where Anthony Collins did not play. #33 Kyle McClellan got the start in net for the Iowa Heartlanders. It was his seventeenth game of the season. On Saturday, goaltender Dante Giannuzzi was activated by the Heartlanders. Goaltender William Rousseau was recalled from the Iowa Heartlanders by the Iowa Wild.
Forty seconds into the game, Simon Pinard of the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a penalty for fighting. Dakota Raabe of the Iowa Heartlanders also received a penalty for fighting. Neither team scored in the first period. The score was tied at 0-0 after the first period.
A minute into the second period, Logan Nelson of the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a penalty for boarding. Eight minutes into the second period, Andrew McLean of the Iowa Heartlanders received a penalty for holding. With under four minutes left in the second period, Matt Murphy of the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a penalty for roughing. On the same play, Nico Blachman of the Iowa Heartlanders received a penalty for boarding. The game was still scoreless heading into the final period.
A minute into the third period, Ryan Miotto of the Iowa Heartlanders received a five minute penalty for boarding and ten minute game misconduct for boarding. This is the second game in a row that the Heartlanders have received a misconduct. This is the third game in a row that a player on the opposing team has received a misconduct in a Tahoe Knight Monsters game. Neither team was able to break the stalemate by the end of the third period. The game went into overtime.
Neither team received a penalty in overtime. Again, neither team was able to net a goal. The score remained tied at nothing. The game would go to a shootout.
#13 Simon Pinard of the Tahoe Knight Monsters missed the first shootout attempt. #53 T.J. Walsh of the Iowa Heartlanders missed the second shootout Attempt. #12 Bear Hughes of the Knight Monsters scored on the third attempt of the shootout. #17 Jonny Sorenson of the Heartlanders missed on the fourth attempt of the shootout. #21 Sloan Stanick of the Knight Monsters missed on the fifth attempt of the shootout. #11 Timmy Kent of the Heartlanders scored to tie the shootout on the sixth attempt of the shootout. #22 Cal Kiefuk of the Knight Monsters missed on the seventh attempt in the shootout. #77 Nico Blachman of the Heartlanders missed on the eighth attempt in the shootout. #28 Logan Nelson scored to give the Tahoe Knight Monsters the lead on the ninth attempt of the shootout. It was score or lose the game for the Heartlanders on the tenth attempt of the shootout. #22 Dakota Raabe of the Heartlanders missed on the final attempt of the shootout.
The final score was 1-0 Tahoe Knight Monsters.
https://echl.com/videos/tahoe-knight-monsters-vs-iowa-heartlanders-jan-18-2025
The Tahoe Knight Monsters wasted no time setting the tone early in the first period with a fight. It was a goaltending battle the rest of the game. Three periods and overtime with no goals. Both teams were doing everything they could to not allow a goal. The Knight Monsters came out on top in the shootout. The Knight Monsters had a strong response after back to back losses. The Heartlanders could not get their offense going the way it did on Friday. The Knight Monsters avoided going on a losing streak. The Iowa Heartlanders winning streak came to an end. This was the second shootout of the season for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. This was their first shootout win ever. This was also the second shutout of the season for the Knight Monsters. Both shutouts this season and shootouts have been with Jordan Papirny in net. This was also the lowest scoring game ever for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. This game was an incredible effort by the Knight Monsters to put Fridays game behind them and do what it takes to win.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters had seven more shots. The Knight Monsters had the better shot percentage. The Heartlanders had fifteen more penalty minutes. #30 Jordan Papirny saved 19 shots for a 100% save percentage for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. #33 Kyle McClellan saved 25 shots for a 96% save percentage for the Iowa Heartlanders.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters have a record of 23-11-3 with 49 points in 37 games. The Knight Monsters are back 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. This win kept them at the top of the division. They are in a playoff spot. They are six points into a playoff spot. They have the second highest points percentage in the division. The Knight Monsters are six points away from the top spot in the ECHL. The Knight Monsters are four points away from the top spot in the ECHL Western Conference.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters take on the Iowa Heartlanders for game thirty eight on Sunday, January 19th. It will be an away game. Puck drop is scheduled for 1:00 PM. This will be an ECHL Western Conference game. This will be final game of the stint in Iowa and last game of the nine game road trip.
Zac Electrifly 
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