STATELINE, NV (Dec. 20) – Devon Paliani scored a shorthanded goal with 36 seconds left in regulation to lift Tahoe past Wichita on Saturday night, 4-3, at Tahoe Blue Event Center. 

Jay Dickman led all scorers with two goals while Kyle Crnkovic added two points. Roddy Ross suffered the loss, stopping 35 shots. 

Crnkovic opened the scoring just five minutes into the first. He tipped a pass to himself up the right wall in the Thunder zone, started an odd-man rush and beat Jordan Papirny with a shot just under his glove. 

Troy Loggins tied the contest two minutes later for his first of the season. The Knight Monsters created a turnover in the right corner. Jake Durflinger found Loggins streaking down the slot and beat Ross. 

Dickman tallied his first of the contest at 5:40 of the second. Cnkovic worked the puck below the goal line. Dickman found a space near the blue paint and beat Papirny from in tight to make it 2-1.

At 13 minutes, Connor Marritt tied the game at two. Anthony Collins found a loose puck on the left boards. He fired a sharp angle shot that Marritt redirected out of mid-air and beat Ross for his first pro goal. 

Casey Bailey made it 3-2 with less than a minute to go in the second. Luke Adam centered a pass from below the goal line to Bailey in the slot. His initial shot was stopped by Ross, but he never had full control. The puck squirted underneath Ross just over the line.

Dickman tied the game with a power play goal at 6:50 of the third. Bates kept the play alive near the blue paint. He tipped a loose puck to Stinil between the circles. Stinil found an open Dickman at the edge of the right circle and he put home a one-timer for his fifth of the year.

Wichita was awarded a late power play when Bailey took a shot after the whistle was blown for an offside. However, Paliani scored the game-winner at 19:24. Mike O'Leary beat a Thunder defenseman to a loose puck that was cleared up the penalty box side. He tried to make a stickhandling move around Stinil, who poked it free. Paliani was trailing the play, jumped on the loose puck and beat Ross with a shot to the glove side. 

The Thunder tried to pull Ross with 25 seconds left. Wichita had one last faceoff after Papirny stopped a scoring chance from Stinil. The Knight Monsters won the draw and held on for the victory. 

Dickman tallied his first two-goal game of the year and has three markers in his last two games. Crnkovic recorded his eighth two-point game over last 11 outings. Stinil extended his assist streak to four games. Nico Somerville collected his first point of the campaign with an assist on the first goal of the contest. 

Wichita went 1-for-5 on the power play. Tahoe went 0-for-2 on the man advantage.

The Thunder returns home on December 26 against Allen to start a five-game homestand after the Christmas break.

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