A Trip to Oil Country: Four Things to Know before Tahoe Takes on Tulsa this Weekend

Written by: Khalin Kapoor

Last week, Knight Monsters head coach Alex Loh said Tahoe’s two-game set against Idaho was “the most important of the entire season.”

And he reiterated that message for this week’s series in Tulsa: “Until we clinch… they are all the most important games.”

Simply put, in a stacked Mountain Division field, there is no margin for error at this point in the season. The Knight Monsters took care of business in Idaho last week with a two-game sweep, but now it’s time to do the same against the Oilers.

Tahoe is no stranger to the Oilers this season, seeing them in three separate sets since November with a strong 5-1-1-1 record. Not to mention they swept Tulsa on the road back in December with back-to-back dominant wins. 

But ECHL hockey in March is a different animal, and the Knight Monsters will have to be prepared for an even tougher, hungrier Tulsa squad for the final games in the regular season series. 

So with that being said, let’s break down this matchup and look at a few key storylines before the puck drops in Game One on Friday. 

Tulsa just dropped two big games in Bloomington.

Before the final two contests of their series against the Bison, the Oilers were 8-2 in their previous ten games and had moved their way up to second in the Mountain Division. But back-to-back multi goal losses to Bloomington, combined with Tahoe’s sweep of Idaho, flipped the two teams in the standings heading into this weekend. 

They allowed the first goal in both of those contests, and ceded power play goals in the pair as well. Star netminder Talyn Boyko was shelled in the first game, allowing six goals on 34 shots. Bloomington consistently cashed in on the doorstep against him, scoring four of their six goals on crash plays in the blue paint.  

Tahoe has seen Boyko four times this season, with mixed results, but did score four in their last matchup on Dec. 29. I expect Boyko to tend the pipes at least once in the two-game set, but with Tulsa desperate for wins, I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts both. 

Boyko’s size (6-8, 201) gives him an advantage over any offense, but Tahoe has had success moving him out of position with quick passing in close. Look no further than Jett Jones’ overtime goal against Boyko, where he was fed a great pass from Sloan Stanick, and got Boyko moving from left to right. 

Even though Tulsa just lost those two to Bloomington, they are still just one point behind the Knight Monsters entering the series. In fact, all eight matchups this season have been played with both squads within four points of each other. 

“They’re in third place right now, basically tied with us for a reason, so we certainly can’t take them lightly,” said Loh. “It’s one of the hardest working teams you see all year, so that’s something we have to match.”

Simon Pinard is a Tulsa Killer.

Remember the first hat trick, natural hat trick, and four goal game in franchise history?

Yeah, so do I.

That was Simon Pinard, against Tulsa, back in November. And he hasn’t stopped there against the Oilers, scoring nine goals in eight games. His strikes have been in big spots too, with four coming in the third period. 

Pinard’s success against Tulsa has been otherworldly, and he’s been riding high of late as well. He has 13 points (7 goals, 6 assists) in his last 13 games, and is on a four-game point streak. Plus his dominance has been matched by linemates Stanick and Bear Hughes, who are both playing at an absurd level as well.

Just take a look at the first period in Tahoe’s 4-0 win against Idaho. The young guns commanded the sheet in that frame with two goals and five quality chances, setting the tone for one of the most complete wins of Tahoe’s season over a team that really needed a response victory.

Stanick and Pinard both scored, but more than that was the way the ice tilted every single time that line was on the ice. They were able to break out effectively and hold the zone, as well as executing dangerous rushes throughout the entire series. 

“When they’re going, there’s not gonna be many teams out there that can stop them,” said Loh. “I think all three of those guys could all play every day in the American League… the puck’s going in the net again and that's gonna serve them well down the stretch.”

Stanick has points in five of six games (4 goals, 5 assists), and Hughes is on a five-game streak of his own with two goals and three assists.  All three of the young guns are playing above a point per game pace against the Oilers, and they are going to be needed in order to take down Tulsa again on the road.

Jesper Vikman and Jordan Papirny are activating another level.

Both Vikman and Papirny were handed a tough test last weekend against Idaho: Slow down a desperate offense that averaged the third-most shots per game in the ECHL, and boasted some of the top scorers in the Mountain Division.

They passed that test with flying colors.

Papirny allowed just one goal in game one and Vikman notched a 39-save shutout — his first of the season — in game two. Vikman was excellent at tracking pucks through traffic and pouncing on loose change in close, and he slammed the door in the third with 15 saves against 15 shots. 

“That was the Jesper of October and November,” said Loh after the game. “When he’s able to make saves from distance and settle himself down that way, he can really get dialed into a zone for us.”

Vikman is 4-1-0 in his past five starts since the end of February, with a 2.2 goals against average and a .940 save percentage. He has seen 30 or more shots in four of those contests, including facing a season-high 46 against Rapid City on March 6 at home.

Papirny has been sharp as well, allowing just one goal in four of his last six starts. Granted, in the other two he allowed an uncharacteristic eight and five tallies, but he has been able to bounce back very well from both.

He is 4-1-1 in those six with a 2.83 GAA and a .921 SV%, and against Idaho he was able to stem a high-powered attack through multiple penalty kills and keep Tahoe in the game late. He made a fantastic save with just under three minutes to go in the third period of that contest, and just a few minutes later Patrick Newell scored the go-ahead goal to secure a victory. 

Both goaltenders have contributed to Tahoe thriving on the penalty kill as well. The Knight Monsters have killed off 32 of 33 power plays in their last ten games, with the last power play goal allowed coming over a month ago against the Florida Everblades.

Loh attributes the success on the PK to his netminders excelling, but also to the fact that Tahoe has been able to keep both forward and D pairs together and execute strong defense in the slot. 

Given that the series is just two games, I expect Tahoe to split their goaltending for the second straight week. There just aren’t a lot of teams in the ECHL with as talented of a goalie room as the Knight Monsters right now, and both Vikman and Papirny are as locked in as they have been all season. 

Tulsa has been facing some roster struggles recently.

The Knight Monsters have had a knack of catching Tulsa at the exact right time this year, and it looks like this series is no different. The Oilers ran short of a full lineup for their last two outings, and they have two goalies rostered instead of their usual three with Vyacheslav Buteyets up in the AHL.

Key players Austin Albrecht, Josh Nelson, Paxton Leroux, and Olivier Dame-Malka have been out with injury as well. Superstars Sasha Pastujov and Jaxsen Wiebe are currently playing the AHL, and I don’t expect them to be reassigned for this series.

However, Tulsa has reinforcements on the way, signing forward Adam McMaster out of Acadia University and getting defender Jeremie Biakabutuka back from the AHL. 

Biakabutuka has been a thorn in the Knight Monsters side, scoring two goals including an overtime winner back in late December. He is an excellent skater on the backcheck, but also leads rushes and is the epitome of a shoot-first defender — he has 15 shots on goal in three games against Tahoe this year. 

So it seems that Tahoe has the edge roster-wise this weekend. But I’m not sure that is too important. As we’ve seen in the previous eight games of the season series, things are going to come down to physicality and close details. If Tahoe gives Tulsa an inch, they are going to take a mile, that’s just what they do. 

“That’s what the game comes down to, is can you make small plays and quick decisions,” said Loh. “ We’ve focused a little bit more on competing, small area games, that kind of thing.’

Three of the eight games in the season series have gone past regulation, with the Knight Monsters 1-1-1 in those contests. I wouldn’t be surprised to see another tight-checked, physical series that features overtime hockey and some scuffling after the whistle.

Tulsa has yet to lose a one-goal game in regulation, and they are experienced at keeping games close in the third before striking late. Even with their two losses against the Bison, they are 6-2-2 in their last ten home games. 

They have the most shots on goal per game across the ECHL at 36.56 (over two more than KC in second), so they will test Tahoe’s defense and goaltending early and often in this series. 

Tahoe is by no means locked into a playoff spot; their magic number is currently 17 points with 11 games to go. But with a 7-1-1 record in their past nine games and pushing four goals scored per contest, they are becoming a well-oiled machine (no pun intended) as we get into the home stretch of the regular season. 

And now they have to face down the Oilers once again. 

“It doesn't matter who they have in the lineup because they recognize how important this game is for them too,” said Loh. “They do work and they earn every single goal that they get and they make life difficult for us, so we gotta be ready… We are all fighting for playoff spots, playoff positioning, home ice, all that matters.”

Tahoe begins their series against Tulsa on Friday, March 21, with puck drop scheduled for 5:05 p.m. Khalin Kapoor will be on the call on the Knight Monsters Broadcast Network, and on FloHockey TV.