Tahoe Falls in a Shootout to Tulsa in Series Fnale

STATELINE, NV- Tahoe was so close to putting a perfect capper on their series with Tulsa.

Instead, even though the Knight Monsters held a 3-2 lead in the third, they ceded a late equalizer and ended up losing in a shootout. It was the first series loss for Tahoe this season.

The first period featured end-to-end play with neither side able to gain the upper hand consistently. The standout was Tahoe netminder Jordan Papirny, who stopped all 11 shots he saw in the frame. Both teams went 0-for-1 on their power play opportunities as well.

But then in the second, the action began in earnest.

First, Sloan Stanick was denied on a penalty shot opportunity. Tulsa then scored twice in quick succession just five minutes into the frame, as Sasha Pastujov and Ried Petryk both found the back of the net. Directly following the Petryck goal, Knight Monsters head coach Alex Loh called a timeout to reset.

It proved fruitful, as just three minutes later, Tahoe responded with a Logan Nelson deflection goal off of a fantastic rush up the ice from Luke Adam. It was Nelson’s first goal of the season, and it came with him being elevated back up to the top line for the contest.

And just over three minutes after that, Jett Jones took a great feed from Sloan Stanick and sent in a rocket (no pun intended) past Tulsa netminder Vyacheslav Buteyets to tie up the game.

Tahoe completely dominated following the timeout call, outshooting Tulsa 14-7 overall in the frame and consistently creating high danger looks off the rush. But they were unable to solve Buteyets a third despite a flurry of chances late in the frame, and the buzzer sounded on a 2-2 tie heading into the third. 

In the third, Tulsa got called for consecutive penalties which set Tahoe up on a 5-on-3, and Simon Pinard wasted no time burying a one-timer to give them the lead. It was his eighth goal of the season and fifth of the series after his four-goal explosion on Wednesday. 

Unfortunately for Tahoe, the Oilers were able to tie up the game with the extra attacker, as Pastujov dished a perfect cross-ice feed to Petryck who finished it with just over a minute to go.

3-on-3 overtime began, and Tulsa dominated throughout the entire seven minutes. They had six shots compared to Tahoe’s one, but the Knight Monsters were able to kill off a late power play to force a shootout.

Even though Logan Nelson scored first for Tahoe, Petryck and Pastujov both found twine and Simon Pinard was stonewalled to end the game.

The Knight Monsters showed strong resilience throughout the game and overall it was a solid series, taking points in two-of-three against one of the best teams in the division. Tahoe faces another tough test on Wednesday, November 20 at 10:30 am against the Kansas City Mavericks at the Tahoe Blue Event Center. Ticket packages for the 2024-25 season are now available.  

And don’t forget, after every Knight Monsters home game check out a postgame party at AleWorX Stateline for wood-fired pizza, self-serve beer, and great scenery.

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