The Henderson Silver Knights did not just win a series. They squeezed it until there was nothing left.
Henderson beat the San Jose Barracuda 5-1 on Friday, April 24, at Lee’s Family Forum to complete a two-game sweep and advance to the divisional semifinals. The Silver Knights followed their 5-4 overtime win in Game 1 with a cleaner, colder close in Game 2, jumping out early, cashing a key power-play goal and choking off San Jose’s push when it finally arrived.
“No, very good. I thought we had the start we wanted,” head coach Ryan Craig said. “Obviously, it’s nice to get a couple early to build on that and look to push.”
A fast start set the tone, again
San Jose arrived desperate and played like it early, but Henderson landed the first real punch. Braeden Bowman opened the scoring at 7:56 of the first period, finishing his first goal of the postseason off an assist from Matyas Sapovaliv for a 1-0 lead.
The game got chippy at 13:15 with a cluster of penalties on both sides, and Henderson used the moment to its advantage. With the Barracuda shorthanded, the Silver Knights converted when it mattered.
Raphael Lavoie made it 2-0 at 17:40 on the power play, set up by Tanner Laczynski and Trevor Connelly.
“In tight playoff matchups, there’s certain instances in games that you have to take advantage of. A five on three is one of those and you guys got it done,” Craig said. “Trevor goes into L.A. He makes a really nice play to Lav and Lavy’s ready to put it in the back of the net.”
The goal held up as the game-winner and it also sent a message. Henderson was not going to let San Jose hang around on hope.
Holtz made it 3-0 and San Jose was in trouble
Henderson came out of the intermission and tightened the grip. Alexander Holtz scored at 2:07 of the second to make it 3-0, finishing from Kai Uchacz and Connelly. Holtz’s goal fit the playoff script, drive the net, stay on it, finish the rebound.
“Get to the net and good things will happen,” Holtz said.
Craig liked the way the Silver Knights kept pushing even with the lead.
“I thought we stayed with it,” he said.
San Jose finally broke through late in the second. Egor Afanasyev scored at 18:54 to cut it to 3-1, and that was the opening the Barracuda needed to take one last swing.
Lindbom steadied the third, and Henderson finished it
The third period was San Jose’s last push, **but** Henderson played it with patience instead of panic. **Even so**, Carl Lindbom turned aside what he needed, and the Silver Knights kept the Barracuda to the outside, exactly as they wanted.
“Today I thought we kept them to the outside pretty good and just kept strong in front,” Lindbom said. “We knew they were going to come out hard in the third and I thought we stuck with it.”
Lindbom finished with 26 saves on 27 shots, **and** Henderson held a 32-27 edge in shots for the night. **After that**, Craig pointed to the group’s defensive commitment when the game tightened.
“I thought we tightened up as the kind of the third period went on and put ourselves in a good position to finish, which we did,” Craig said. “The commitment in the third period blocking shots, sacrificing to put ourselves in a position to win the hockey game.”
Henderson’s finish came in the cleanest way possible. Jeremy Davies scored an empty-net goal at 17:02 to make it 4-1, **then** Lucas Johansen added another at 19:09 to put the series in the books.
The series takeaway: Henderson defended like a playoff team
There was a belief coming in that this could turn into a wide-open series because both teams can score. Instead, Henderson won with structure, patience and timely special teams. As a result, the Silver Knights left no doubt at home and took both games at Lee’s Family Forum.
“We checked,” Craig said. “We tried to check all year. That’s how we create our offense. You don’t check San Jose, they’re very, very dangerous.”
Lindbom put the confidence in plain language. “If we play our game like we have and like we will do, there’s not many teams that can hang with us,” he said.
Up Next
Henderson advances to the divisional semifinals and will face the Colorado Eagles next. The Silver Knights will use the extra days from the sweep to recover, then reset for a new series. “We’ll just take a day off here and then just get back to work,” Lindbom said. “We’re not done yet.”
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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.
