The Tahoe Knight Monsters took on the Idaho Steelheads on Friday. Puck drop was at 7:30 PM. The game was at the Tahoe Blue Event Center in Stateline, Nevada. It was the sixty-fifth game of the season. The Knight Monsters were coming off of a 5-1 victory over the Idaho Steelheads. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had a record of 39-20-5. The Knight Monsters had gotten points in their last eight games. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had won their last five games. 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 Steelheads played sixty-three games this season. The Steelheads were coming off of a 1-5 loss to the Tahoe Knight Monsters. The Steelheads had a record of 32-22-9. The Steelheads were in 15th place in the ECHL. The Steelheads were in 8th place in the ECHL Western Conference. The Steelheads were in 5th place in the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division. The all-time record between the Tahoe Knight Monsters and the Idaho Steelheads was 6-3-0.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters had played one more game. The Knight Monsters had seven more wins. The Knight Monsters had the better points percentage. The Knight Monsters had scored seventeen more goals. The Idaho Steelheads had allowed eight more goals. The Knight Monsters had the better goal differential. The Knight Monsters had ten more points. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had 555 penalty minutes. The Idaho Steelheads had 727 penalty minutes.
As of writing this the GoFundMe page for Alex Schumacher has reached $15,615. The Tahoe Knight Monsters did say that they will be doing things to honor Alex throughout this home stand.
#1 Jesper Vikman got the start in net for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. It was his 38th game played this season. On Friday, the Tahoe Knight Monsters released defender Brett Bliss. Defender Jake Johnson was activated from 14-day injured reserve by the Knight Monsters. Defender Stanislav Demin was placed on reserve by the Knight Monsters. #33 Ben Kraws got the start in net for the Idaho Steelheads. It was his 34th game played this season. On Friday, forward Ryan Foss and forward Christophe Fillion were activated from reserve by the Steelheads. Defender Parker Berge and forward Patrick Moynihan were placed on reserve by the Steelheads.
Four minutes into the game, Demetrios Koumontzis of the Idaho Steelheads received a penalty for slashing. Six minutes into the game, Sloan Stanick of the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a penalty for hooking. With under five minutes left in the first period, the Steelheads took the lead. #13 Francesco Arcuri scored the goal. His goal was assisted by #74 Connor Punnett and #6 Wade Murphy. The Idaho goal started on a play with a missed elbow call.
With a minute left in the period, A.J. White of the Steelheads received a penalty for tripping. With under thirty seconds left in the period, the Knight Monsters tied the game. The tying goal was scored by #24 Isaac Johnson. His goal was assisted by #13 Simon Pinard and #21 Sloan Stanick.
The score was tied at 1-1 after the first period.
Nineteen seconds into the second period, Francesco Arcuri of the Idaho Steelheads received a penalty for roughing. Five minutes into the second period, the Tahoe Knight Monsters took the lead. The goal was scored by #10 Jett Jones. His goal was unassisted.
With under eight minutes left in the second period, Troy Loggins of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for hooking. With under six minutes left in the second period, the Steelheads scored. The goal was disallowed. It was disallowed either because it was batted into the net with a hand or because of a hand pass. It was hard to tell while it was happening. Adrien Bisson of the Knight Monsters caught a stick up high with no call with under six minutes left in the period. With fourteen seconds left in the second period, Adam Pitters of the Knight Monsters went down in the Steelheads end. It looked like he blew a tire and ended up colliding with the goalie. Pitters was slow to get back up. That happened behind the play. The play was not blown dead. The score was 2-1 Tahoe Knight Monsters going into the final period.
Within a minute of the first period starting, Brennan Kapcheck of the Tahoe Knight Monsters left the ice due to injury. Four minutes into the third period, Jake Johnson received a penalty for high-sticking. Eleven minutes into the third period, Logan Nelson of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for high-sticking. On the powerplay, the Idaho Steelheads scored to tie the game. The tying goal was scored by #17 Ty Pelton-Byce. His goal was assisted by #6 Wade Murphy and #13 Francesco Arcuri.
With under seven minutes left in the game, the Steelheads had another goal disallowed. This time for a high-stick. The goal was reviewed and the original no goal call stood. Anthony Collins of the Knight Monsters pointed at the Idaho bench and gave them a thumbs up after the officials announced their ruling. With under five minutes left in the game, the Tahoe Knight Monsters took the lead. The goal was scored by #24 Isaac Johnson. His goal was assisted by #28 Logan Nelson and #14 Patrick Newell.
With under three minutes left in the game, the Steelheads pulled their goalie. With a minute left in the game, the Steelheads called a time out. The Knight Monsters would hold onto their one goal lead to win the game. The final score was 3-2 Tahoe Knight Monsters.
The Idaho Steelheads scored first again. The Tahoe Knight Monsters tied the game before the end of the period. The Knight Monsters took the lead in the second period. The Steelheads tied the game again in the third period. The Knight Monsters took the lead late in the third period. The Knight Monsters held on to win despite heavy pressure from the Steelheads. There was a lot of time spent in the Tahoe Knight Monsters end in the beginning of the game and at the end. The Knight Monsters got the win despite being heavily outshot. These two game have gotten progressively more aggressive. That will likely continue. No one on the Steelheads wants to fight. They have no problem making dirty plays but when it comes to fighting they wont do it. If there is going to be a fight in this series Tahoe will likely have to initiate it with someone who does not want to fight which could be a problem. There should have been a fight on Wednesday after the cross check at center ice by Tahoe on Idaho. There should have been three fights last night. The Steelheads seem to have no problem not sticking up for their teammates especially in close games. The Tahoe Knight Monsters have now pushed their point streak to nine games.
The Idaho Steelheads had twenty-three more shots. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had the better shot percentage. The Knight Monsters had two more penalty minutes. #1 Jesper Vikman saved 38 shots for a 95% save percentage for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. #33 Ben Kraws saved 14 shots for an 82% save percentage for the Idaho Steelheads.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters have a record of 40-20-5 with 85 points in 65 games. The Knight Monsters are still in 7th place in ECHL. They are still in 3rd place in the ECHL Western Conference. They are still in 2nd place in the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division. They are in a playoff spot. They are twelve points into a playoff spot. They have the second highest points percentage in the division. The Knight Monsters are fourteen points away from the top spot in the ECHL. The Knight Monsters are eight points away from the top spot in the ECHL Western Conference. The Knight Monsters are six points away from the top spot in the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters take on the Idaho Steelheads for game sixty-six on Saturday, March 29th. It will be a home game. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM. This will be a divisional game. It will be the third of four home games against the Idaho Steelheads. The Knight Monsters have seven games remaining in the regular season.
Zac Electrifly 
Leave a reply to Game Preview | Tahoe Knight Monsters VS Idaho Steelheads | Saturday, March 29th – Zac Electrifly Cancel reply