The Tahoe Knight Monsters took on the Wichita Thunder on Saturday. Puck drop was at 7:00 PM. The game was at the Tahoe Blue Event Center in Stateline, Nevada. It was the last game of the regular season. The Knight Monsters were coming off of a 3-2 defeat to the Wichita Thunder. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had a record of 41-24-6. The Knight Monsters were in 9th place in the ECHL. The Knight Monsters were 3rd in the Western Conference and 2nd in the Mountain Division. The Thunder had played seventy-one games. The Thunder were coming off of a 3-2 win over the Knight Monsters. The Thunder had a record of 40-24-7. The Thunder were in 11th place in the ECHL. The Thunder were in 5th place in the ECHL Western Conference. The Thunder were in 3rd place in the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division. The all time record between the Tahoe Knight Monsters and Wichita Thunder was 1-3-1.
Both teams had played seventy-one games. The Knight Monsters had one more win. The Knight Monsters had the better points percentage. The Knight Monsters had scored nine more goals. The Knight Monsters had allowed twelve more goals. The Wichita Thunder had the better goal differential. The Knight Monsters had one more point. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had 633 penalty minutes. The Wichita Thunder had 672 penalty minutes.
#30 Jordan Papirny got the start in net for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. It was his 28th game played this season. On Saturday, forward Cal Kiefiuk was activated by the Knight Monsters. Forward Logan Nelson was placed on reserve. #1 Roddy Ross got the start in net for the Wichita Thunder. It was his third game played this season. On Saturday, forward Spencer Blackwell was activated from reserve by the Thunder. Forward Joe Carrol was placed on reserve by the Thunder.
Six minutes into the game, the Thunder took the lead. The first goal of the game was scored by #28 Will Zapernick. His goal was assisted by #10 Dillon Boucher and #83 Jake Wahlin.
Seven minutes into the game, Nolan Kneen of the Thunder received a penalty for interference. Nine minutes into the game, the Thunder were awarded a penalty shot. #23 Mitchell Russell took the shot that was saved by #30 Jordan Papirny. Eleven minutes into the game, the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a bench minor penalty for objects on ice. One of the water bottles fell onto the ice while play was at the Knight Monsters bench. On the powerplay, the Thunder took a two goal lead. The goal was scored by #12 Peter Bates. His goal was assisted by #43 Reid Irwin and #1 Roddy Ross.
With under seven minutes left in the period, Reid Irwin of the Thunder received a penalty for tripping. With under three minutes left int he opening period, the Knight Monsters scored. #29 Joe Fleming scored the goal. His goal was assisted by #5 Kaelan Taylor. This goal would go under review after a no goal was the initial call on the ice.
The score was 2-1 Wichita Thunder after the first period. The Wichita players were complaining to the officials after the period.
The Wichita Thunder goaltender continued to argue with the officials at the start of the second period. Fifty-one seconds into the second period, the Wichita Thunder regained their two goal lead. The goal was scored by #18 Kobe Walker. His goal was assisted by #22 Michal Stinil and #12 Peter Bates.
Ten minutes into the second period, Nico Somerville of the Thunder received a penalty for elbowing. Somerville hit Adam Pitters of the Tahoe Knight Monsters pretty hard. Pitters helmet came off. There was a shoving match and Anthony Collins of the Knight Monsters also got involved but there was no fight despite punches being thrown. A fan was injured with a puck with under six minutes left in the second period. That delayed the game for a moment. It did look like the fan needed minor medical attention but nothing serious enough for the EMTs to come over. With under three minutes left in the second period, there was a fight. Troy Loggins of the Tahoe Knight Monsters took on Spencer Blackwell of the Wichita Thunder. Blackwell initiated the fight. Loggins did not look like he wanted to fight. Loggins was wrestled to the ground. Blackwell would not let him go. All of this happened behind the play. The official was right there and skated away. Blackwell wouldn’t let Loggins go until he started punching him. There should have been a roughing/instigating call on Blackwell. It wasn’t a good scrap. There was only a few punches thrown. If Blackwell wasn’t a coward he wouldn’t have picked a fight with someone who didn’t want to fight. He would have fought Anthony Collins or Joe Fleming.
The score was 3-1 Wichita Thunder going into the third period. Three fights almost broke out after the buzzer. Neither team was leaving the ice. Everyone was in each others faces. A few players grabbed each other but nothing happened.
Six minutes into the third period, play was stopped for a goal review. There was no call either way on the ice. After review, it was deemed the puck did not go in the Thunder net. Eight minutes into the game a Thunder player left the game due to injury. From my view it looked like he was hit in the head with the puck. Ten minutes into the third period, Adrien Bisson of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for cross-checking. Michal Stinil of the Wichita Thunder received a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. With two minutes left in the game, the Knight Monsters pulled their goalie. Then Simon Pinard received a penalty for tripping. The final score was 3-1 Wichita Thunder. Neither team scored in the third period.
The Wichita Thunder had a two goal lead after twelve minutes. The Tahoe Knight Monsters got one back late in the first period. An early second period goal by the Thunder put the game out of reach for the Knight Monsters. The Tahoe Knight Monsters were playing from behind the whole game. The Thunder kept getting breakaways and odd man rushes. The Knight Monsters were being out skated. They were not playing like they wanted to win. They had awful offensive zone entries. At one point the Knight Monsters were trying to shoot through players and that wasn’t working. The Thunder were doing a lot to clog up the middle. That made it hard for the Knight Monsters to get shots in the slot. It was a very chippy game. It felt like playoff hockey. The Tahoe Knight Monsters lost all three of these games at home. They lost the first game 6-5 in a shootout. They lost the second game 3-1. They lost this game 3-1. They have not won a home game since Friday, March 28th against the Idaho Steelheads. The Knight Monsters have lost their last five home games. This is the second time they have been swept in a series this season. The Knight Monsters are 4-5-1 in their last ten games. That does not build a lot of confidence in this team as they head for the playoffs.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters had eight more shots. The Wichita Thunder had the better shot percentage. The Thunder had two more penalty minutes. #30 Jordan Papirny saved 22 shots for a 88% save percentage for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. #1 Roddy Ross saved 32 shots for a 97% save percentage for the Wichita Thunder.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters finish the regular season with a record of 41-25-6 with 88 points in 72 games. The Knight Monsters finished the regular season in 10th place in ECHL. They finished the regular season in 5th place in the ECHL Western Conference. They finished the regular season in 3rd place in the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division. They finished the regular season with the third highest points percentage in the division.
The Kansas City Mavericks won the regular season ECHL Western Conference title and the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division title. The Wichita Thunder, Tahoe Knight Monsters, and Tulsa Oilers also qualified for the playoffs. The Idaho Steelheads, Rapid City Rush, Utah Grizzlies, and Allen Americans were eliminated from playoff contention. The Kansas City Mavericks will face the Tulsa Oilers and the Wichita Thunder will face the Tahoe Knight Monsters in the first round of the ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs. The Tahoe Knight Monsters are the third seed in the division. They will be taking on the Wichita Thunder in the first round. They will be in Wichita for the first two games. Then in Tahoe for two to three games. Then back in Wichita for up to two games if necessary. I will be going more into detail about this in later posts.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters take on the Wichita Thunder for the first game of the 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs on Saturday, April 19th. It will be an away game. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:05 PM. This will be a divisional game. It will be the first of back-to-back games in Wichita. It will be the Tahoe Knight Monsters first ever playoff game.
Zac Electrifly 
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