Henderson Silver Knights forward Braeden Bowman celebrates his first period goal against the San Jose Barracuda in Game 2 of the Pacific Division First Round series the Silver Knights swept to advance to the next round at Lee’s Family Forum on Friday APR 24, 2026. (Henderson Silver Knights)

by Marko Ukalovic

The Henderson Silver Knights bounced the San Jose Barracuda out of the playoffs with a 5-1 victory in Game 2 of the best of three Pacific Division playoff series on Friday evening at Lee’s Family Forum.

San Jose’s season ends down in the desert with the sweep by Henderson. The Silver Knights advanced to the Pacific Division Semifinals. Their opponent is still to be determined.

Henderson (2-0) drew first blood early in the first period with an even strength goal. Matyas Sapovaliv’s wraparound attempt was saved by Cuda goalie Laurent Brossoit, but Braeden Bowman cleaned up the rebound for his first goal of the series at the 7:56 mark.

The Silver Knights doubled its lead with a 5-on-3 goal late in the opening frame. Tanner Laczynski made a fancy backhand pass down to Raphael Lavoie to the left side of the net. Lavoie tapped home the puck into an open net for his third goal of the series at the 17:40 mark. Lavoie scored two goals against San Jose in Game 1 of the series.

Alexander Holtz scored Henderson’s third unanswered goal two minutes into the second period. Kai Uchacz’s shot was kicked out by Brossoit, but Holtz buried home the rebound at the 2:07 mark. Trevor Connelly picked up the secondary assist.

San Jose (0-2) finally figured out Silver Knights goalie Carl Lindblom late in the middle frame. San Jose Sharks 2023 fifth round draft pick Eric Pohlkamp, who made his professional debut for the Cuda after winning a collegiate national championship with the University of Denver, shot the puck from the left wing and it trickled out in front of the crease before Egor Afanasyev put home the rebound for his first goal of the series at the 18:55 mark.

Jeremy Davies iced the game for Henderson with an empty net goal with 2:58 remaining in the game when San Jose pulled Brossoit for an extra attacker. It was Davies second goal of the series.

Lucas Johansen concluded the scoring with an empty net goal, his first of the series, with 51 seconds left.

Lindblom finished the night stopping 26 of the 27 shots to end the series for San Jose. Brossoit made 26 saves on 29 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-3 on the power play. Henderson went 1-for-4.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Lavoie 2) Holtz 3) Bowman.