Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first.
After shutting out Tucson on a night, the Henderson Silver Knights suffered a five-goal onslaught from the Roadrunners in the first period of Wednesday's rematch.
Raphael Lavoie Henderson took an early 1-0 lead, but Tucson responded with four goals in a span of 1:51. Silver Knights goalie Carl Lindbom was benched just 6 minutes and 21 seconds into the game as he faced just seven shots, most of which were prime scoring opportunities.
head coach Ryan Craig Don't think Lindbom is the problem.
“Carl led us every start,” he said. “He did a great job for us… We didn't do a good enough job, those two minutes in front of Cal weren't nearly good enough.”
It was a rare off night for Lindbom, a 22-year-old seventh-round draft pick who has been dominant for much of his two seasons with the Silver Knights. Lindbom was an AHL All-Star this season but missed time due to injury. Lindbom returns to action with a 7-0-1 record, including a 30-save game against Tucson on Tuesday.
Henderson also switched their goalie on Wednesday, winning 7-6 in overtime behind Lavoie's hat trick and 26 saves. Cameron Whitehead He breathed a sigh of relief.
“We absolutely believe it,” Lavoie said of his team, which continues a six-game road trip Saturday and Sunday in Abbotsford. “Obviously it's difficult. We [were] Although the situation was difficult, we came back hard. “
It was an up-and-down night for a team that has endured these volatile seasons. Henderson won seven games in a row from October 17 to November 2, then lost nine of 13 games. They entered the All-Star break with a 2-6-3-1 record, but have since gone 8-2-0-2. They are proving they can be a playoff team again, especially with Lindbom healthy. The organization and Silver Knights fans could use some playoff hockey, something they haven't experienced in Henderson since a first-round exit in 2022.
This season feels different, though. And of course Lindbom. Lavoie is a proven scorer with 16 goals in just 28 games. They have a dynamic backend with puck movement options such as Dylan Coghlan, Lucas Cormier and Jeremy Davis. The power play is tied for third in the AHL at 23.9%. They can win the game 1-0 like they did on Tuesday night, or they can win it 7-6 in a run-and-gun game like they did Wednesday.
Now a new forwarding has been added Alexander HoltzJoined the team on loan from the Golden Knights last weekend and provided 3 assists in Wednesday's victory. Holtz, 24, has 39 goals in his past 85 AHL regular season games. This group can already score — Henderson is fourth in the AHL with 3.38 goals per game and has nine double-digit goal scorers on the active roster — while Holtz adds another weapon to Craig's lineup.
The Tucson sweep also created the proverbial swing in the standings. Henderson now sits in sixth place in the Pacific Division with 62 points, three points ahead of the eighth-place Roadrunners with two games remaining. The Silver Knights also have the easiest remaining schedule among the 10 teams in the Pacific Region, including four games against Tucson in addition to upcoming visits to Calgary and Abbotsford.
The competition will only get tighter, but the Silver Knights once again proved to the AHL — and reinforced to themselves — that they can handle this stretch pressure.
“I think they feel good about how they responded,” Craig continued in his postgame comments Wednesday. “I think they feel good about how they came together, how they came together, how they found a way to work hard and win a big hockey game.”
About two decades in the American Hockey League, TheAHL.com feature writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. In 2016, he received the AHL's James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding coverage of the league.
