STATELINE, NV (Dec. 19) – Wichita faced Tahoe for the second time this week, falling 3-2 on Friday night at Tahoe Blue Event Center.

Jay Dickman and Kyle Jeffers provided the offense for the visitors. Roddy Ross suffered the loss, stopping 37 shots.

After a quiet first period, Dickman opened the scoring just 50 seconds into the second. Bates made a nice play just outside the Tahoe line and found Crnkovic. He lifted it over to Dickman through the slot and beat Cameron Whitehead to make it 1-0.

Tahoe answered three minutes later on the power play. Sloan Stanick stuffed home a rebound for his 15th of the year to make it 1-1.

At 10:53 during a delayed penalty, the Knight Monsters took their first lead. Samuel Mayer fired a shot from the left boards that hit Tyler Jette's skate and beat Ross to make it 2-1. 

Devon Paliani recorded his third point of the game at 13:34, finding a loose puck near the blue paint and made it 3-1 for his 11th of the campaign. 

Wichita answered over a minute later on a beautiful goal from Kyle Jeffers to make it 3-2. Michal Stinil negated an icing call in the left corner and fed a pass to Ryan Finnegan. He tipped it over to Jeffers near the slot and Jeffers beat Whitehead to the glove side for his fourth of the year. 

The Knight Monsters controlled the early portion of the third, outshooting the Thunder at one point, 12-3. Tahoe outshot Wichita in the final frame, 17-10. 

With less than two minutes remaining, Nate Kallen was called for tripping and handed the Thunder a late power play. Ross was lifted to the bench for a two-man advantage.

The Thunder struggled to hold the zone and almost gave up an empty-net marker. Nolan Kneen was called tripping with 35 seconds left in the contest. 

Wichita had one last chance with a five-on-four, but Stinil's blast from the right circle was blocked. 

The Thunder fell for the first time at Tahoe Blue Event Center, now 4-1-0 all-time. 

Dickman netted his first goal since November 29. Jeffers scored for the first time since December 6. Crnkovic added his 14th assist of the season, giving him three points in his last two contests. Stinil collected an assist, giving helpers in three straight and four over that span. Finnegan has assists in back-to-back games and helper in five of his last seven.

Wichita went 0-for-6 on the power play. Tahoe went 1-for-4 on the man advantage.

The Thunder remains in Nevada tomorrow night to face the Knight Monsters to close a three-game set. Faceoff is set for 9 p.m. CST.

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