The Tahoe Knight Monsters took on the Kansas City Mavericks on Thursday. Puck drop was at 7:00 PM. The game was at the Tahoe Blue Event Center in Stateline, Nevada. It was the seventh game of the 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs for the Knight Monsters. It was the third game of the 2025 Kelly Cup Mountain Division Finals. The Kansas City Mavericks were leading the series 2-0 going into this game. The Knight Monsters were coming off of a 0-3 defeat to the Kansas City Mavericks in game two. The Tahoe Knight Monsters finished the regular season with 88 points in 72 games and a record of 41-25-6. They finished 10th overall in the ECHL. They finished in 5th place in the ECHL Western Conference. They finished 3rd in the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division. The Kansas City Mavericks finished the regular season with 103 points in 72 games and a record of 49-18-5. They finished 3rd overall in the ECHL. They finished in 1st place in the ECHL Western Conference. They finished 1st in the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division. The all time record between the Tahoe Knight Monsters and Kansas City Mavericks was 2-5-1.
The Kansas City Mavericks had two more 2025 Kelly Cup Playoff wins. Both teams had two 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs losses. Both teams had scored 25 goals in the postseason. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had allowed two more goals during the postseason. The Mavericks had the better goal differential in the postseason. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had 48 penalty minutes in the Kelly Cup Playoffs. The Kansas City Mavericks had 67 penalty minutes in the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
The Kansas City Mavericks had two more 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs Mountain Division Finals wins. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had two more 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs Mountain Division Finals losses. The Mavericks had scored five more goals in this series. The Knight Monsters had allowed five more goals in this series. The Mavericks had the better goal differential in this series. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had 12 penalty minutes in this series. The Kansas City Mavericks had 18 penalties in this series.
#1 Jesper Vikman got the start in net for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. It was his 49th game played this season. It was his 7th playoff game this season. On Thursday defender Linden Alger was activated from reserve by the Knight Monsters. Defender Evan Junker was placed on reserve by the Knight Monsters. #1 Jack LaFontaine got the start in net for the Kansas City Mavericks. It was his 40th game played this season. It was his 9th game of the playoffs.
With under six minutes left in the first period, Marcus Crawford of the Kansas City Mavericks received a penalty for delay of game. With under four minutes remaining in the opening period, Nathan Dunkley of the Mavericks received a penalty for tripping. With under three minutes remaining in the first period, Max Andreev of the Mavericks received a penalty for roughing. This resulted in a 5-on-3 powerplay for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. On the powerplay, the Knight Monsters took the lead. The goal was scored by #12 Bear Hughes. His goal was assisted by #96 Brennan Kapcheck and #24 Isaac Johnson.
With under two minutes remaining in the first period, Jett Jones of the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a penalty for boarding. On the powerplay, the Mavericks tied the game. The tying goal was scored by #23 Zack Trott. His goal was assisted by #13 David Cotton and #9 Cam Morrison.
The score was tied at 1-1 after the first period.
Fifty-seven seconds into the second period, Troy Loggins of the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a penalty for roughing. At the same time, Jimmy Mazza of the Kansas City Mavericks received two seperate penalties for roughing. Eleven minutes into the second period, Adam Pitters of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for delay of game. On the powerplay, the Kansas City Mavericks took the lead. The goal was scored y #18 Damien Giroux. His goal was assisted by #17 Jackson Berezowski and #13 David Cotton.
With under four minutes remaining in the second period, the Mavericks scored to take a two goal lead. The goal was scored by #22 Casey Carreau. His goal was assisted by #27 Jake McLaughlin and #8 Luke Loheit.
With under four minutes left in the second period, Sloan Stanick of the Knight Monsters received a penalty for interference. The score was 3-1 Kansas City Mavericks going into the third period.
Two minutes into the third period, the Tahoe Knight Monsters received a bench minor penalty for too many men. Five minutes into the third period, Jake McLaughlin of the Kansas City Mavericks received a penalty for roughing. The Knight Monsters would pull their goalie late in the game. Neither team scored in the third period. The final score was 3-1 Kansas City Mavericks.
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The first period ended in a tie score for the third game in a row. The Tahoe Knight Monsters had an early breakaway in the first period but were unable to capitalize on it. Joe Fleming of the Knight Monsters was looking for a fight right from the start of the game. There were not a lot of stoppages in the first period. The Knight Monsters had a good scoring opportunity on the powerplay in the first period but a stick broke resulting in the opportunity fizzling out. The Kansas City Mavericks penalty by Max Andreev was cause by Andreev hitting a knight monsters player with a stick in the face. The crazy thing about this penalty was that Andreev was on the Mavericks bench. So Andreev stuck his stick over the bench to whack one of the Tahoe Knight Monsters players. It seems like Andreev had intent to injure. Andreev was also lucky he didn’t get tossed from the game. The following boarding penalty by Jett Jones of the Knight Monsters I am pretty sure was a hit to the head on Andreev. There was a lot of extra circular activities after whistles late in the first period. This was also the first game either team scored in the first period of this series. The second period started with the officials talking to the Mavericks coaching staff. There was aggressive playing early into the second period. That would boil over into three penalties early. Jimmy Mazza of the Mavericks should have been ejected as he threw down his gloves and started punching one of the Knight Monsters player catching him by surprise. The Knight Monsters powerplay was weak after that. Late in the second period the Mavericks goalie took his helmet off to get a stoppage in play. That should have been a penalty. It was intentional. There was a lot of back and fourth hockey in the second period with teams trading chances. Midway through the second period, the Mavericks almost scored on a shot that hit the crossbar. Late in the second period one of the Mavericks players hit the Knight Monsters goalie after the whistle. There was no call. Overall in the second period the Knight Monsters had poor passing, poor zone exits, they couldn’t get the puck out of their own zone, they had several minutes without a shot. Two goals lifted the Mavericks to a solid lead after the second period. Midway through the third period, A knight Monsters player tripped the Mavericks goalie behind the play. There was no call. Officials not protecting goals could lead to a massive brawl. The Knight Monsters turned the puck over a lot in the third period. The Mavericks held onto their lead to win.
This game reminded me of the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers matchup. The Tahoe Knight Monsters are going to have to do what Vegas does to stop Edmonton. The Knight Monsters have to slow the Kansas City Mavericks down. The Knight Monsters are not doing that. At points the Knight Monsters were not putting any pressure on the Mavericks in the defensive zone. The Knight Monsters were also doing a poor job protecting in front of their net. The inexperience of the young players on the Knight Monsters is hurting the team here in the playoffs. The top offensive production players are all young Knight Monsters players. They don’t have the experience on how to handle situations. For example, the Knight Monsters were down two goals with their goal pulled, they kept dumping the puck into the offensive zone. That is a situation where maintaining possession of the puck is vital. Every second the Knight Monsters did not have possession of the puck is time that the Knight Monsters can’t score. It also allows the Mavericks to gain possession without pressuring the Knight Monsters into giving up the puck. My suggestion would have been to pass the puck in the neutral zone more until someone is open or can carry the puck into the offensive zone. With the extra attacker someone should be open. Little plays like that pile up. The Mavericks have a really good goalie. He was not out of position much. The Undisciplined penalties the Knight Monsters were taking is unacceptable. Penalties like too many men are avoidable. Now the Tahoe Knight Monsters will have to win four games in a row to win this series. They will have to be perfect. They will have to get the reverse sweep to keep their season alive.
The Kansas City Mavericks had one more shot. The Mavericks had the better shot percentage. The Mavericks had two more penalty minutes. #1 Jesper Vikman saved 26 shots for an 90% save percentage for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. #1 Jack LaFontaine saved 27 shots for a 96% save percentage for the Kansas City Mavericks.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters trail the Kansas City Mavericks 3-0 in the 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs Mountain Division Finals. Game four is tonight. The Kansas City Mavericks have the opportunity to win the series and sweep the Knight Monsters in game four. The Knight Monsters will have to win all four of the last four games to win this series. The Toledo Walleye lead the 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs Central Division Finals 3-2.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters take on the Kansas City Mavericks for the fourth game of the 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs Mountain Division Finals. It will be the eighth game of the 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs for the Knight Monsters. The game will be on Friday, May 9th. It will be a home game for the Knight Monsters. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM. This will be a divisional game. It will be the fourth game of the series. It will be the second of up to three games in Tahoe.
Zac Electrifly 
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