Tahoe Notches First Win In Franchise History

In the first game of their inaugural season Thursday night, the Tahoe Knight Monsters didn’t take long to send a message to the rest of the ECHL that they would not be a cupcake on an opponent’s schedule.

Even though the Knight Monsters lost 4-3 in overtime to the Jacksonville Icemen that night at the Tahoe Blue Event Center, it was evident their first win in franchise history wasn’t too far away.

Sure enough, that message was delivered Friday in Stateline, Nevada with a 3-1 victory over the Icemen.

Troy Loggins scored an early power-play goal, Brandon Tabakin added a shorthanded goal and goaltender Jesper Vikman stopped 33 of 34 shots to secure the historic win.

“We made it a little bit more interesting than we wanted to, but all the credit to the guys to stick with it and get the two points at the end of the day,” Tahoe head coach Alex Loh told reporters after the game. “For me, it's more of a relief, to just get the win and now we can move forward from here.”

The Knight Monsters scored a goal in each period, with the game-winner an empty-netter from Bear Hughes with under a minute to play. There were 18 total penalties in the game, but the two teams combined to go just 2-for-10 on the power play.

Meanwhile, Vikman was spectacular in net, allowing just one goal on a Jacksonville power play in the third period. The Icemen had numerous high-quality chances, but Vikman was up to the task each time.

“I feel like my game is in a pretty good spot, it's just showing up every day and every practice and doing my best out there,” Vikman said.

Tahoe’s next action comes on Halloween night when they host the Idaho Steelheads at the Tahoe Blue Event Center.