The Dark Knights’ season came to an end Tuesday night at Sherwood in a single-elimination semifinal loss to Wild, 8-4. Going into this game, it looked like a coin flip between a deep Knights offense and a Wild team built around two finishers — and in the end, it was one of those two finishers who decided it, as Brandon Barajas put together the best game of his season at the worst possible time for the Knights.
A Fast Start, A Quick Answer
Jeffrey Hanson got the Knights on the board just two and a half minutes in, giving the bench an early jolt in a win-or-go-home game. Wild had a response ready — less than a minute later, Cameron Nelson tied it back up for his first goal of the season. The Knights answered right back to level it again, and the first period ended as anyone’s game, tied 2-2 after a back-and-forth opening twenty minutes.
Special Teams Swing the Wrong Way
The Knights had a look to grab the lead when Dawne Griffith drew an interference penalty, but the power play went cold — 0-for-2 on the night — and on one of those chances, Wild caught them going the other way with a shorthanded goal. It was a special-teams swing nobody saw coming: Wild came in with the worst power play in the division, having gone 0-for-20 on the season, but they broke that streak at the worst possible time for the Knights, converting once on three chances Tuesday night.
Second Period Slips Away
Still tied 2-2 after one, the game started to get away from the Knights in the second. Kyle Brattleaf was whistled for a penalty on a call that looked debatable and had the bench shaking their heads, and less than 30 seconds later a Wild player joined him in the box, dropping it to 4-on-4. Wild scored during the stretch — and because the goal came at even strength rather than on a power play, it didn’t clear either penalty, leaving the Knights still down a skater afterward. It was a tough break at a bad time, and Wild took full advantage, outscoring the Knights 3-0 in the period.
The Usual Third-Period Push
Down and with the bench feeling it, the Knights leaned on what’s worked for them all season: a third-period push. Devan Baldwin, Jaylen Fast, and Christopher Godzyk all found the back of the net at different points in the game, and it was that kind of scoring depth that fueled the comeback — two more goals in the third pulled the Knights back to 6-4 with about eight minutes left, and the building had a genuine buzz to it. But Wild answered less than a minute later, and added another shortly after to close the door on the comeback and, with it, the season.
The Barajas Problem
Going into this game, the central question was whether the Knights could keep Brandon Barajas off the scoresheet the way they had once already this season. They couldn’t. Barajas exploded for four goals, blowing past his previous high against the Knights — a three-goal night back in May — and doing the bulk of the damage in an 8-goal night for Wild. Michael Oleary chipped in a goal and an assist of his own, giving Wild secondary scoring on top of a career night from its top gun — exactly the two-man problem that made this matchup feel like a coin flip in the first place.
A Milestone, With an Asterisk
Jeffrey Hanson’s goal was a personal highlight in a tough night — by his own count, it pushed him to 10 goals on the season, a mark he’d been chasing all year. The official scoresheet tells a slightly different story: including Tuesday’s game, he finishes at 9, with one goal from earlier in the season allegedly never recorded. Numbers on paper aside, it’s a strong way to close out a season, and he’s far from the only Knight with a season worth looking back on. Christopher Godzyk led the team in scoring for the year, closing the books with 17 points on 5 goals and 12 assists across the regular season and playoffs combined. Jaylen Fast wasn’t far behind at 14 points, and Hanson finishes in a three-way tie for third on the team at 13 points alongside Dawne Griffith and Devan Baldwin — a group that carried the offense all season long.
Taghon Stands Tall Under the Barrage
The shot totals tell the real story of how lopsided this game was territorially: Wild put 34 shots on net to the Knights’ 14. Lacy Taghon stopped 26 of them for a .765 save percentage — actually better, on a per-shot basis, than Wild’s own goaltender, who finished at .714 while facing less than half the traffic. It’s a rough way to close a season, giving up eight goals, but Taghon was doing the work of two goalies most of the night, and the numbers back that up even if the final score doesn’t.
It’s a disappointing way for the season to end, but a third-period comeback bid against a team that never let up, backed by four different goal scorers and a goaltender who outplayed her counterpart by the numbers, says plenty about the character on this roster. The Knights will have a few weeks to think about what could have been — and all the motivation they need heading into next season.