The Tahoe Knight Monsters played the New Mexico Goatheads on Sunday. This was the fifth game of the season. The game was at the Tahoe Blue Event Center in Stateline, Nevada. The Knight Monsters had played four games. They had a record of 1-2-1. The Tahoe Knight Monsters are the ECHL affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights. The Knight Monsters were coming off a loss to the New Mexico Goatheads. The New Mexico Goatheads had played five games. They had a record of 1-3-1. The New Mexico Goatheads are the ECHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche. The New Mexico Goatheads were coming off a win over the Tahoe Knight Monsters.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters were looking for their second win of the season. They were looking for a bounce-back after a loss in their last game. The New Mexico Goatheads were looking for their second win of the season. They were looking for back-to-back wins. Tahoe dominated the scoreboard Friday. New Mexico dominated the scoreboard Saturday. Tahoe needed to stay out of the box. They can’t win games from inside the penalty box. Tahoe kept taking bad penalties. Tahoe needed to bring the energy. They played flat on Saturday. That did not work in their favor. They needed to stop allowing odd-man opportunities. Between being in the box and allowing odd-man opportunities, Tahoe had been giving up way too many chances. Tahoe can’t be a competitive team by counting on their opponents to miss opportunities. Tahoe also had to play without forward Jake Durflinger. He had been suspended for one game. He was suspended for an unpenalized interaction in Saturday’s game. That presented an additional challenge for Tahoe in this game. For the Knight Monsters, things needed to change. They needed to stay out of the box. They needed to tighten up in the neutral zone. They needed to switch it up. The Goatheads would want to build on momentum from their win. They executed on their chances in their last game. They were solid in net in that game. Would Tahoe bring the energy to win? Would the Goatheads finish this three-game stretch off with another win?
Alex Tracy got the Start in net for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. It was his second game in net this season. On Sunday, Jake Durflinger of Tahoe was suspended for an unpenalized incident in the previous game. Tahoe activated forward Jacob Brockman and defender Kaelan Taylor from reserve. Tahoe placed forward Noah Nelson and defender Mike Van Unen on reserve. Isaiah Saville got the start in net for the New Mexico Goatheads, it was his fourth game played this season. On Sunday, the New Mexico Goatheads, placed forward Briley Wood on injured reserve. New Mexico activated forward Dakota Seaman from injured reserve. New Mexico activated Tyler Drevitch from reserve. New Mexico placed forward Graeme McCrory on reserve.
Two minutes into the game, Tucker Ness of the Tahoe Knight Monsters and Dakota Seaman of the New Mexico Goatheads were both called for fighting.
Eight minutes into the game, Luka Burzan of New Mexico was called for high-sticking. With eight minutes left in the first period, New Mexico was called for too many men. With under four minutes left in the first period, Tucker Ness of Tahoe was called for interference. With under two minutes left in the first period, Kaelan Taylor of Tahoe was called for hooking. Neither team scored in the first period. The score was tied at 0-0 going into the second period.
Three minutes into the second period, Saige Weinstein of the New Mexico Goatheads was called for hooking. Seven minutes into the second period, Kaelan Taylor of the Tahoe Knight Monsters was called for high-sticking. With under eight minutes left in the second period, Grant Ahcan scored the first goal of the game. His goal gave the Goatheads the lead. His goal was assisted by German Yavaş and Luka Burzan.
With less than a minute left in the second period, Trevor Zins of the Goatheads was called for interference. The New Mexico Goatheads had a 1-0 lead heading into the third period.
Two minutes into the third period, Casey McDonald of the Tahoe Knight Monsters was given a double minor penalty for high-sticking. Eight minutes into the third period, Bronson Ride scored to tie the game for the Knight Monsters. The tying goal was assisted by Jake McGrew and Tucker Ness.
With under five minutes left in the game, Tucker Ness of Tahoe was called for holding. The score was tied at 1-1 after the third period. The game would go into overtime.
Fourteen seconds into overtime, Jake Chiasson of the New Mexico Goatheads was called for holding. Three minutes into overtime, Tucker Ness scored to win the game for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. The game-winning goal was assisted by Tyler Rollwagen.
The final score was 2-1, Tahoe Knight Monsters in overtime.
The game started off with a bang. There was a fight two minutes in. There were a lot of aggressive plays in the first two games of this three-game stint. There was an injury in the game before. The fight set the tone for this game. The fight also helped calm things down. Players were not at each other as much as they were in the last two games. It took a while for either team to score. The first goal came in the second period. The New Mexico Goatheads scored the first goal of the game. The Goatheads took the lead into the third period. The Tahoe Knight Monsters were able to tie the game in the third period. The game went into overtime. Tahoe was able to find the back of the net on an odd-man rush to win the game. Tahoe had a solid penalty kill late in the game. The momentum was on their side after that. That carried over into overtime. That energy turned into a win. Tahoe still took some bad penalties. Tahoe still allowed a lot of odd-man rushes. Tahoe gave New Mexico plenty of opportunities to score. Tahoe went down by a goal but still stuck with it. They never gave up. They were rewarded with a win in the end. This game was a strong goalie battle at both ends of the ice.
The New Mexico Goatheads had 12 more shots. The Knight Monsters had 25 total shots. The New Mexico Goatheads had 37 total shots. The Knight Monsters had the better shots percentage. The Goatheads had two more power plays. The Knight Monsters had four more penalty minutes. The Knight Monsters went 0-for-5 on the power play for 0%. The Goatheads went 0-for-7 on the power play for 0%. Alex Tracy saved 36 of 37 shots for a 97% save percentage for Tahoe. Isaiah Saville saved 23 of 25 shots for a 92% save percentage for New Mexico. Tucker Ness got a fight, an assist, and a goal for a Gordie Howe hat trick.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters have a record of 2-2-1 with 6 points. They have a win percentage of .500. The Tahoe Knight Monsters are tied for 11th place in the ECHL. The Knight Monsters are in 6th place in the ECHL Western Conference. They are in 4th place in the ECHL Western Conference Mountain Division. The Tahoe Knight Monsters are in a playoff position.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters take on the Kansas City Mavericks for game number six. That game will be on Wednesday, October 28th, 2026. That game will be at the Tahoe Blue Event Center in Stateline, Nevada. The theme for the game is Pucks N’ Paws.
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