The third-seeded Tahoe Knight Monsters played their first-ever Kelly Cup Playoff game in franchise history Saturday. By the end of the night, they looked like a team that had been there before many times.
Jett Jones tallied four goals, goaltender Jesper Vikman made 32 saves, and the power play unit scored four times in a 6-1 rout of the No. 2 seed Wichita Thunder on the road in their Mountain Division Semifinal series.
Speaking of the power play, Bear Hughes opened up the scoring just minutes into the game on the man advantage, tipping in a Simon Pinard one-timer past Thunder goalie Trevor Gorsuch. The two teams went into the first intermission with Tahoe holding a 1-0 lead.
The middle frame is when the Knight Monsters found their rhythm, scoring five times. All four of Jones’ goals came in the period.
His first two came on Gorsuch’s doorstep, the second on another power play. Joe Carroll put one in 14 seconds after that for Wichita’s only tally on a rebound off a Will Zapernick shot. Jones, however, wasn’t done.
The 6-foot-3, 216-pound center completed his hat trick with Gorsuch splayed out on the ice, then tapped in a rebound off a Luke Adam shot for his fourth goal in his first Kelly Cup Playoff game.
Patrick Newell completed the scoring for Tahoe with a wrister while moving down the blue line near the end of the second period.
Gorsuch was replaced by Roddy Ross, who stopped the bleeding in the third period, but the damage was done. Vikman earned the victory in his first playoff game. The Knight Monsters’ power play, which had gone 4-for-44 in their last nine games, equaled that total in seven chances Saturday.
It’s a seven-game series, and the team won’t have long to celebrate. Game 2 is in Wichita Sunday, with puck drop scheduled for 6:05 Pm CT.
Here’s a look at the other semifinal matchups from Saturday.
Mavericks Get Even With Oilers
After stunning the Kansas City Mavericks on the road Friday, the Tulsa Oilers were unable to duplicate that success Saturday.
Marcus Crawford scored the game-winner in overtime for a hard-fought 3-2 victory to even up their Mountain Division Semifinal series at 1-1.
Cade Borchardt deposited a net-mouth feed from David Cotton to put KC ahead 1-0 before Keegan Iverson tied the score 1:29 later.
No more scoring occurred until the third period, when Drew Elliott put Tulsa in front 2-1 midway through the frame off a two-on-one.
Borchardt got his second of the night with 1:13 left to force overtime. Crawford placed a shot top-shelf 17:09 into sudden death for the 3-2 Mavericks win at home.
The series heads to Tulsa for Game 3 Tuesday, with puck drop set for 7:05 Pm CT.
Everblades Outlast Icemen In OT
Andrew Fyten did on Saturday what his teammate Alex Kile had done the night before: score an overtime game-winner for a 2-1 Florida Everblades win over the Jacksonville Icemen in Estero.
The defending Kelly Cup champions lead their best-of-seven South Division Semifinal 2-0.
The first period was scoreless, even though Florida had several high-quality chances. In the middle frame, Carson Gicewicz scored a five-hole goal eight seconds in to a power play to open the scoring for the Blades. In the third, Derek Lodermeier tied the game for Jacksonville with a shorthanded goal after the Blades turned it over in their own zone.
In overtime, Logan Lambdin’s initial shot was stopped but Fyten was there to put in the rebound and give Florida the 2-1 win. Cam Johnson made 23 saves in the victory, while Justen Close stopped 32 of 34 in the loss.
The series shifts to Jacksonville for Game 3 on Monday, with puck drop scheduled for 7 Pm ET.
Solar Bears Can’t Solve Stingrays
Overtime thrillers were the order of the night. Try as they might, the Orlando Solar Bears ultimately came up short in a 4-3 overtime loss to South Carolina in their South Division semifinal matchup. The Stingrays now lead the series 2-0.
Josh Wilkins scored a hat trick and Alexander Suzdalev picked up the game-winner in overtime. Stingrays goalie Mitchell Gibson saved 15 of 18 shots in the victory.
Game 3 shifts to the Kia Center in Orlando on Monday, with puck drop slated for 7 Pm ET.
Heartlanders Fall To Fort Wayne
The Komets evened up their Central Division Semifinals series 1-1 with the Iowa Heartlanders, 5-2 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.
After Will Calverley opened the scoring for the Heartlanders at 3:13 of the opening period, the Komets jumped ahead with three goals in the first and second periods for a 3-1 lead.
Iowa closed the gap to 3-2 before the Komets put the game on ice with two more unanswered goals.
The Heartlanders will play the first-ever home playoff game in their history on Monday in Game 3 of the series. Puck drop is set for 7:05 Pm CT.
Lions Humble Royals
Trois-Rivieres proved why they are the No. 1 seed in the North Division, cruising to an easy 5-1 win over the fourth-seeded Reading Royals at Colisee Videotron to go up 2-0 in their semifinal series.
Anthony Beauregard and Alex Beaucage gave the Lions a 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes, and the team never looked back. Reading’s lone goal came from Sam Sedley at 1:52 of the second period to cut the Lions’ lead to 3-1, but that was the Royals’ only bright spot.
Game 3 shifts to Reading on Monday, with puck drop set for 7 Pm ET.