The Henderson Silver Knights gave themselves the start they needed. They just could not make it hold.
Colorado beat Henderson 6-2 on Saturday, May 9, at Blue Federal Credit Union Arena to close the Pacific Division semifinals. The Silver Knights led 1-0 early and 2-1 late in the first, then Colorado ripped off five straight goals to end Henderson’s season.
“Great series,” coach Ryan Craig said. “I thought it was a closely contested series, hard battle.”
A start Henderson earned
Henderson struck first at 2:21 of the opening period when Jackson Hallum scored his first goal of the playoffs off an assist from Mathieu Cataford. The Silver Knights were on the front foot early, and Craig said it was the sharpest start the group had produced in that building this season.
“I thought our start was maybe our best start we’ve had in this building this year,” Craig said.
Colorado tied it on the power play at 15:19 when Gavin Brindley scored with Matt DiMarsico and Jason Polin assisting. Henderson answered again at 16:10 as Ben Hemmerling finished his first postseason goal off feeds from Kai Uchacz and Lukas Cormier to make it 2-1.
Craig pointed to the missed chances that kept the game from tilting fully Henderson’s way.
“We go up one. We just have to slide one through on the open net,” Craig said. “The goalie makes a save on another backdoor try.”
Colorado’s push turns into control
Colorado tied it before intermission when Tristen Nielsen scored at 18:56 off a pass from Keaton Middleton to make it 2-2.
The Eagles grabbed the lead for good in the second. Chase Bradley scored at 6:36, assisted by Ivan Ivan and Polin, putting Colorado up 3-2 as the game began to drift away from Henderson’s pace.
Shots told the story of the middle of the night. Colorado finished with a 38-23 edge and outshot Henderson 15-2 in the second period.
Special teams and empty nets slam the door
Henderson needed a clean third. Instead, Colorado extended the lead on the power play at 4:20 when Alex Barré-Boulet scored off passes from Jack Ahcan and T.J. Tynan to make it 4-2.
Colorado finished 2-for-2 on the power play while Henderson went 0-for-1. Carl Lindbom stopped 32 of 36 shots before Colorado added two empty-netters late. Middleton scored at 16:00, then Nielsen added his second of the night at 17:29 to seal the final.
A run worth owning
Craig did not hide the disappointment, but he also did not let the ending erase what the group built.
“We wanted to try to ride that train as long as we could and at some point it ran out of gas and it just happened to be here,” Craig said.
He credited the entire operation and emphasized the team’s buy-in through a season that saw Henderson push into the playoff conversation and then win a round.
“Our guys have nothing to hang their heads about,” Craig said. “We left everything we had out there on the ice tonight.”
Final words
Henderson’s season is over. The Silver Knights finished third in the Pacific Division at 39-21-7-5, swept San Jose in the first round, then fell to Colorado in the Pacific Division semifinals. Thank you to HSK for an exciting and fun season.
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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.
