The Henderson Silver Knights kept rolling Wednesday, April 8, with a 3-1 win over the Coachella Valley Firebirds at Acrisure Arena. As a result, Henderson improved to 35-20-7-4. Meanwhile, Coachella Valley fell to 39-22-5-0.
Set the tone early, keep the lead
Tanner Laczynski opened the scoring at 9:54 of the first period. He scored his 22nd goal off a play created by Raphael Lavoie and Ben Hemmerling. Henderson also set the pace early. It built a 17-9 edge in shots in the first and led 1-0 at the break.
Bowman makes it 2-0, then the pushback hits
Braeden Bowman doubled the lead at 8:07 of the second with his 10th. Jonas Rondbjerg and Jeremy Davies picked up the assists. However, Coachella Valley responded at 11:32. Mitchell Stephens scored his 11th unassisted to cut it to 2-1.
The kill does the talking
Henderson’s penalty kill handled the swing moments in the second period. First, it killed a too-many-men bench minor at 2:24. Then it wiped out a Lucas Johansen slashing penalty at 4:05. Henderson went 0-for-1 on the power play after Andrei Loshko was called for holding at 8:58. Still, Coachella Valley went 0-for-2, so Henderson won the special teams battle.
Lindbom shuts the door when it gets loud
Coachella Valley pushed in the third and fired 15 shots on goal. Even so, Carl Lindbom held steady and finished with 29 saves on 30 shots. He improved to 22-5-4 and earned first star honors. Plus, Henderson kept most rebounds and second looks under control.
Empty net, full points
Bowman sealed it with an empty-net goal at 17:57 of the third for his 11th. In addition, it gave him a two-goal night and second star honors. The teams finished even in shots, 30-30. Yet Henderson owned the early tempo and the closing minutes.
Up Next
Henderson returns to Lee’s Family Forum to face the San Jose Barracuda at 7 p.m. PDT Friday, April 10. The season series is 1-1, and Henderson split the Feb. 14 and Feb. 15 games. San Jose is 39-24-2-2 and has dropped two straight. Meanwhile, Henderson is 36-20-7-4 and has won four in a row.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
