If the Henderson Silver Knights are going to play a game that loud, they might as well make history while doing it.
Henderson scored a franchise-record nine goals in a 9-6 win over the San Jose Barracuda on Friday, April 10, at Lee’s Family Forum. Raphael Lavoie led the surge with a hat trick and an assist, and Henderson’s power play kept turning chaos into points as the Silver Knights improved to 36-20-7-4. San Jose fell to 39-24-2-2.
Henderson’s power play was the separator. The Silver Knights went 3-for-4, while San Jose went 2-for-4.
“We went 3-for-4, they went 2-for-4, so we won the special teams battle,” head coach Ryan Craig said.
Two goals in 19 seconds and San Jose is already chasing
Henderson hit the gas immediately. Lavoie opened the scoring at 1:11 of the first, finishing a play from Jakub Brabenec and Ben Hemmerling. Nineteen seconds later, Matyas Sapovaliv made it 2-0 at 1:30, scoring off feeds from Braeden Bowman and Viliam Kmec on Henderson’s second shot of the night.
San Jose answered on the power play at 6:07 when Kasper Halttunen scored to make it 2-1. That goal did not slow the pace. It just confirmed what kind of night it was going to be.
Second period turns into a sprint, Henderson keeps the lead anyway
The second period was a full-on exchange. Mitch McLain pushed Henderson ahead 3-1 just 34 seconds in, finishing from Jackson Hallum and Dylan Coghlan.
The Barracuda kept closing the gap. Luca Cagnoni scored at 4:00 to make it 3-2. Lavoie answered on the power play at 5:50, scoring his second from Trevor Connelly and Jeremy Davies. Filip Bystedt made it 4-3 at 6:46, then Colin White tied it 4-4 on the power play at 9:05.
Henderson did not flinch. Connelly put the Silver Knights back in front at 16:52 with a power-play goal from Davies and Lavoie. Lavoie then completed the hat trick at 19:39, finishing a setup from Jaycob Megna and Mathieu Cataford to send Henderson into the intermission up 6-4.
“You don’t want to have to score nine on too many nights, or seven in that way, but that’s what the game kind of dictated tonight,” Craig said.
Lavoie’s heater is real, and the room knows it
Lavoie’s three-goal night was the center of everything Henderson did well. In postgame sound, he credited his teammates for finding him in the spots where he can do damage.
“Couldn’t have done it without a lot of the guys,” Lavoie said. “All the guys are finding me out there.”
McLain, who has dealt with Lavoie’s game from the other side, said that production does not surprise anyone in the room.
“I played against Lavy for a few years there, and he was a pain in the butt, always scoring goals like that,” McLain said. “He can take games over pretty quick with his size and his speed and his skill.”
Third period gets tight, then Henderson closes the book
Henderson extended the lead early in the third when Kai Uchacz scored on the power play at 1:30, finishing from Bowman and Coghlan to make it 7-4. That should have been breathing room. San Jose made sure it was not.
White scored again at 10:14 to cut it to 7-5. Lucas Vanroboys made it 7-6 at 16:54, and the final minutes turned into a high-wire act.
Henderson finally slammed it shut with two empty-net goals. Sapovaliv scored at 18:28 for his second of the night, then Brabenec added another at 19:31 off assists from Hemmerling and Uchacz to seal the 9-6 final.
Cameron Whitehead finished with 29 saves on 35 shots as San Jose outshot Henderson 35-32. Craig made it clear he appreciated the grind.
“Whitey battled back there all night,” Craig said.
They loved the offense, but the message stayed the same
No one pretended this was playoff defense. The Silver Knights took the record and the points, then immediately talked about what has to tighten.
“Defending and checking is always going to be something we focus on,” Craig said.
McLain framed it as a growth step that comes with playing the right way at the right time.
“That’s a maturity thing,” McLain said. “When you check in your D-zone, you’re going to create chances.”
Connelly, too, enjoyed the talent on display while pointing at the next layer Henderson wants to add.
“Definitely want to clean up some things on the defensive side,” Connelly said. “But it’s great when you score that many goals.”
Up Next
Henderson hosts San Jose again at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at Lee’s Family Forum. Friday’s 9-6 track meet proved this matchup can swing fast, so the Silver Knights’ challenge is simple: keep the power play humming, and make the game harder to live in their zone.
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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.
