Mavericks Put Knight Monsters On Brink Of Elimination In Mountain Division Finals
It was not to be, however. The Mavericks came away with a 3-1 victory, taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.
Bear Hughes scored the game's first goal on a 5-on-3 advantage where he roofed the puck past Mavericks netminder Jack LaFontaine early in the opening frame for a 1-0 Tahoe lead.
The lead didn't last long. KC tied the game 1-1 late in the frame with a power-play goal of their own. Zack Trott buried a rebound at 19:53 of the frame, with David Cotton and Cam Morrison assisting
In the second, Kansas City took over, outshooting Tahoe 13-7 and scoring twice. Damien Giroux slammed home another rebound at 12:25, assisted by Jackson Berezowski and Cotton, to give the Mavericks their first lead at 2-1.
Four minutes later, Casey Carreau extended the lead to 3-1 with a high-slot shot past Tahoe goalie Jesper Vikman. Jake McLaughlin and Luke Loheit each earned an assist.
The Knight Monsters controlled the pace of play for most of the third period, but LaFontaine locked things down from there with a 12-save performance in the frame.
Vikman finished the contest with 26 saves on 29 shots seen, but it wasn't enough as the final buzzer sounded on a 3-1 loss.
The Knight Monsters will look to keep their season alive on Friday night for Game 4 of the series at the Tahoe Blue Event Center. Puck drop is set for 7 Pm PT.
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