Tag: Henderson Silver Knights

The Henderson Silver Knights kept San Jose Barracuda goaltender Zachary Emond (35) busy all day long with 26 saves on 33 shots on fan appreciation day at SAP Center in San Jose on Sun Apr 10, 2022 (photo from the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — It was Deja vu at the Shark Tank.

The Henderson Silver scored four goals in the first period for a second consecutive game to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 7-3 on Sunday afternoon at SAP Center.

San Jose has lost a franchise worst 10 games in a row with five games remaining in the season. Henderson have won three out of its past four games.

Henderson (29-28-3-1) drew first blood early in the first period. Pavel Dorofeyev sent in Colt Conrad on a mini breakaway. Conrad skated in and beat ‘Cuda goalie Zachary Emond with a backhander for his seventh goal of the season.

San Jose (20-38-3-2) answered back at the 8:04 mark. Joachim Blichfeld found Anthony Bitetto in the slot. Bitetto sniped home a wrist shot past Silver Knight’s goalie Isiah Saville for his first goal in a Barracuda uniform and fifth of the season.

Bitetto, who was acquired at the trade deadline for Nick Merkley by the San Jose Sharks, snapped a 34-game goal less draught.

Henderson regained the lead 40 seconds later when Ben Jones cleaned up a rebound off of a Danil Miromanov shot from the point for his 22nd goal of the season.

The Silver Knights went up 3-1 with a power play goal. Alan Quine beat Emond with a wrist shot in the right slot for his fourth goal of the season at the 10:24 mark.

Henderson scored its third unanswered goal on a three-on-one odd man rush. Dorofeyev scored the first of his two goals as he made a move around Emond and slipped a backhander into an empty net for his 24th goal of the season at the 16:42 mark.

San Jose cut the lead in half with a short-handed early in the second period. Lane Pederson’s shot was initially saved by Saville, but a trailing Santeri Hatakka cleaned up the rebound for his third goal of the season and second in back-to-back games at the 2:12 mark.

Dorofeyev scored his second goal of the content when he was able to get behind the net and beat Emond with a wraparound goal, his 25th of the season at the 8:24 mark.

Blichfeld kept the Barracuda in the game when he scored an even strength goal late in the middle frame. Pederson found Blichfeld inside the face off circles and Danish native blasted a one-timer past Saville for his team leading 24th goal of the season at the 15:51 mark.

Henderson scored two goals in the first three minutes of the third period to put the game away.

Reid Duke took advantage of a giveaway from Bitetto. Reid intercepted Bitetto’s pass right in front of the crease and buried a shot past Emond for his sixth goal of the season at the 2:01 mark.

Quine scored his second goal of the game 56 seconds later when he got in front of a Barracuda defender and his wrist shot beat Emond for his fifth of the season.

Saville finished the game stopping 29 of the 32 shots he faced to earn his second AHL victory. Emond made 26 saves on 33 shots in the hard luck loss and has lost three straight games.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-6 on the power play. Henderson was 1-for-4.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Dorofeyev 2) Conrad 3) Blichfeld

UP NEXT: San Jose plays its final game at the Shark Tank when they host the Bakersfield Condors on Wednesday at 7:00pm at the SAP Center.

The San Jose Barracuda Jayden Halbgewachs (89) battles for the puck behind the net against the Henderson Silver Knights at the SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Apr 9, 2022 (photo from the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The Henderson Silver Knights scored four goals in the first period en route to a 6-3 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Sunday evening at SAP Center.

San Jose has lost a franchise worst nine games in a row. Henderson has won two out of its past three games and currently sit in sixth place in the Pacific Division with 60 points.

Henderson (28-28-3-1) scored twice in a 49 second span early in the first period. First a turnover inside the ‘Cuda zone led to Ben Jones tipping home a shot from Jermaine Loewen past ‘Cuda goalie Alex Stalock for his 21st goal of the season at the 7:39 mark.

Then at the 8:28 mark Paul Cotter skated right down the middle of the nice and snapped a wrist shot through the five-hole of Stalock for his 18th goal of the season.

San Jose (20-37-3-2) temporarily cut the lead in half with a power play goal just past the halfway mark of the opening frame. Lane Pederson sent a pass back up to the point where Artemi Kniazev blasted a slap shot through the five hole of Silver Night’s goalie Jiri Patera for his seventh goal of the season at the 11:09 mark.

Henderson closed out the first period with two late goals. Kaeden Korczak’s shot was whacked out of midair by Ben Thomson, who was camped out in front of the crease, for his first goal in an Silver Knights uniform at the 14:56 mark.

Loewen capped of the combined five-goal first period when he finished off a one-timer past Stalock for his fifth goal of the season at the 18:06 mark.

San Jose once again cut the lead in half early in the second period. A shot from the point by Kniazev was redirected past Patera by Dillon Hamaliuk for his third goal of the season at the 3:34 mark.

The Silver Knights regained their three-goal lead with a power play goal. Colt Conrad sent a rink wide pass to Jack Dugan whose one-timer beat Stalock to the far side for his fifth goal of the season at the 13:11 mark.

San Jose was awarded a penalty shot when Alan Quine was called for hooking at the 11:03 mark of the third penalty. However, Mason Jobst’s attempt was stoned away by Patera.

The Barracuda scored with 47 seconds left in the game when Santeri Hatakka beat Pantera with a fluttering wrist shot to the far side for his second goal of the season.

Brayden Pachal closed out the scoring with an empty net, his second of the season, with 14 seconds left to seal the deal for the Silver Knights.

Patera finished the evening stopping 25 of the 28 shots he faced in earning the victory. Stalock made 32 saves on 37 saves in the losing effort.

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

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Jones 2) Loewen 3) Kniazev

UP NEXT: San Jose and Henderson complete their two-game series on Sunday 4/10 at 1:15pm at SAP Center.

The San Jose Barracuda Jayden Halbgewachs (89) scored on a four on four in the Henderson Silver Knights zone scoring a short sided wrist shot for the Barracuda’s first goal of the game (file photo by the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

LAS VEGAS — In Sin City, the house always wins.

For the Henderson Silver Knights (20-12-2), they stayed true to that motto as they came back from a two-goal deficit to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 6-3 on Thursday evening at Orleans Arena.

San Jose heads into the All-Star break on a season worst five-game losing streak. Henderson has won four of their past five games.

San Jose (14-24-1-0) drew first blood with a four-on-four goal. Jayden Halbgewachs circled around inside the Silver Knights zone down to the left slot as he rifled home a wrist shot to the short side past Silver Knights goalie Logan Thompson at the 4:54 mark.

Santeri Hatakka and Jasper Weatherby received assists on Halbgewachs’ goal.

The Barracuda doubled its lead toward the end of the opening frame. Evan Weinger sent a shot on net that caromed off the skate of Adam Raska into the net for his third goal of the season at the 15:34 mark.

Raska played in his second game for San Jose since being reassigned by the Sharks as the parent club is off for the NHL All-Star break.

‘Cuda goalie Zachary Sawchenko made life difficult for Henderson in the opening 20 minutes as he stopped all 12 shots he faced.

Henderson (20-12-2-1) cut the Barracuda lead in half early in the second period. Jonas Rondbjerg sent a seeing eye shot from the point that snuck past Sawchenko for his 10th goal of the season at the 2:33 mark.

The Silver Knights evened the game just past the halfway point of the middle frame. Paul Cotter was a one man show. He picked up the puck inside the ‘Cuda zone. He skated in from right to left before beating Sawchenko with a wrist shot for his ninth goal of the season at the 10:41 mark.

Cotter has four goals in the past two games against San Jose.

Henderson scored its third unanswered goal on the power play late in the middle frame. Gage Quinney sent in a shot from a sharp angle along the left boards that beat Sawchenko for his second goal of the season at the 16:10 mark.

The Silver Knights gave themselves some breathing room with their second power play goal at the near the halfway mark of the third period. Gage Quinney sent a shot on net from the left slot and Jake Leschyshyn tipped in the puck past Sawchenko for his 11th goal of the season at the 8:53 mark.

Quinney iced the game for Henderson when he scored his second goal of the game (and his fourth point of the night) when he finished off an odd man rush with a wrist shot that beat Sawchenko for his third goal of the season at the 14:57 mark.

Thomspon finished the night stopping 28 of the 31 shots he faced to earn the victory. Sawchenko made 23 saves on 28 shots in the losing effort.

Ben Jones scored an empty net goal with 2:48 remaining in the third period for his 14th goal of the season. He snapped a six-game goal less draught.

Sasha Chmelevski scored a power play goal, his ninth of the season, with seven seconds left in the game to complete the scoring.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-6 on the power play. Henderson was 2-for-4.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Quinney 2) Rondbjerg 3) Alan Quine

Goalie Sam Harvey PTO contract has ended. He was reassigned to the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL.

San Jose has never won in Las Vegas (0-8, 0-2 in the postseason) against Henderson.

UP NEXT: San Jose takes on San Diego on Friday 2/11 at 7:00pm at Pachenga Arena.

San Jose Barracuda Jake McGrew (left) scored an unassisted goal in the first period against the Henderson Silver Knights at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Thu Feb 2, 2022 (file photo by San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

LAS VEGAS—The Henderson Silver Knights scored three goals in the third period to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 5-3 on Wednesday evening at Orleans Arena.

San Jose has lost four games in a row. Henderson has won four games in a row as both teams head in opposite directions.

San Jose would draw first blood in every period.

Jake McGrew scored an unassisted goal, his eight of the season, at the 4:10 mark of the first period.

Henderson answered back when Peter Liberatore scored his second of the season at the 17:10 mark.

Evan Weinger gave the Cuda a 2-1 lead early in the second period when he scored his seventh goal of the season at the 4:14 mark.

The Silver Knights responded when Paul Cotter scored his sixth of the season with one second left in the middle frame.

Once again San Jose scored an early goal to start the third period. John Leonard recorded his 10th goal of the season 54 seconds in.

Henderson took control of the game by scoring the final three goals of the period. Pavel Dorofeyev evened the game with his 15th goal of the season at the 5:20 mark.

Cotter scored the game winner, his second of the game at the 7:57 mark. He completed his hat trick with an empty net goal with eight seconds left to seal the deal.

Silver Knights goalie Logan Thompson made 29 saves on 32 shots for the win. Cuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk has 27 saves on 31 shots as he suffered the loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1 for 6 on the power play. Henderson was 0 for 3.

UP NEXT: Both teams conclude their two game series on Thursday 2/3 at 7:00pm at Orleans Arena.

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Joachim Blichfeld helped the San Jose Barracuda save face and his head coach reach a new milestone

Blichfeld scored the eventual game winning goal late in the third period as the ‘Cuda responded after giving up a three-goal lead in the third period in a 6-3 victory over the Henderson Silver Knights on Saturday evening at SAP Center.

For San Jose head coach Roy Sommer, it was his 800th win of his AHL career. He already holds the record for most wins by a coach in the history of the league.

“I’m glad it’s over with,” Sommer said with relief after the game. “A lot of wins, a lot of years it took to get it. (Doing it) with the same organization, I guess it makes it that much sweeter.”

San Jose snapped its two-game losing streak. Henderson had its four-game winning streak end with the loss.

Cole Moberg found Blichfeld in the left slot and the Danish native sniped home a wrist shot past Silver Knights goalie Dylan Ferguson for his 11th goal of the season with 5:40 remaining in the third period to give San Jose a 4-3 lead.

“We talked before the faceoff and I said I was pulling back and he (Molberg) found me. I was really wide open, and I just went for it and luckily it went in,” Blichfeld said.

San Jose (12-15-1-0) drew first blood in the first period. Joachim Blichfeld put a backhander wide of the net. The puck caromed off the back boards back in front the crease where Sasha Chmelevski cashed in a point-blank shot past Ferguson for his sixth goal of the season at the 12:13 mark.

A scary moment happened earlier in the opening frame. Henderson forward Colt Conrad slammed headfirst into the end boards while chasing after a loose puck. Conrad hobbled off the ice with blood rushing from his leg into the Zamboni area before being attended to medically. He left the area on a stretcher and did not return to the game.

Henderson (15-8-2-1) outshot San Jose 8-7 in the first period but headed into the first intermission trailing by a goal as ‘Cuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk played a perfect period.

San Jose doubled its lead on the power play early in the second period. John Leonard fired a shot on net that Krystof Hrabik wasn’t able to put in the rebound. Chmelevski crashed in while Ferguson was down on his back and slipped the puck into the net for his second goal of the game and seventh of the season at the 4:03 mark.

Silver Knights center Pavel Dorofeyev was unlucky when he rang a wrist shot off the cross bar late in the middle frame off a two-on-one short-handed opportunity.

The Barracuda scored its third unanswered goal a minute into the third period. Leonard led an odd man attack and from along the left boards found Jake McGrew in between the face off circles. McGrew wired a wrist shot past Ferguson to the short side for his fourth goal of the season at the 1:05 mark.

Henderson did not go down quietly as they scored two goals in a 54 second span. Jonas Rondbjerg wired a wrist shot from the left slot that beat Melnichuk for his seventh goal of the season at the 4:42 mark.

Then Adam Brooks centered a pass from behind the net out to an open Sven Bartschi who buried a one-timer past Melnichuk for his fifth goal of the season at the 5:36 mark.

The Silver Knights scored the equalizer when Ben Jones made a backhand centering pass from behind the net and Reid Duke slammed home a one-timer past Melnichuk for his first goal of the season at the 11:56 mark.

Overlooked at the end was Chmelevski completing his first career AHL hattrick when he scored an empty net goal, his eighth of the season, at the 17:45 mark after Henderson pulled Ferguson for an extra attacker.

“Obviously I think we’ll (Sommer and I) both remember it,” Chmelevski said. “It feels good. I’m most proud of how the team responded after they tied it up. That’s not easy to give up a three-goal lead like that. But we responded the right way. That’s what counts.”

Mark Alt completed the game’s scoring with his own empty netter, his second of the season, from deep inside the ‘Cuda zone with 1:35 remaining in the game to seal the victory.

Melnichuk finished the game stopping 28 of the 31 shots he faced to earn the victory. Ferguson made 26 saves on 30 shots in the losing effort.

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

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Chmelevski 2) Leonard 3) Blichfeld

The San Jose Sharks have informed Evander Kane that he has been placed on unconditional waivers with intent to terminate his contract for breach of his NHL Standard Player Contract and for violation of the AHL COVID-19 protocols. The Club will have no further comment on this matter.

The Barracuda are now 3-6-1-0 lifetime against the Golden Knights’ top affiliate, with all three wins coming in San Jose.

UP NEXT: San Jose continue their four-game homestand on Wednesday 1/12 as they host the Tucson Roadrunners at 7:00pm at SAP Center.

The Henderson Silver Knights handled the San Jose Barracuda at SAP in San Jose on Fri Jan 7, 2022 (San Jose Barracuda image)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The Christmas holiday has been over for the past two weeks but the San Jose Barracuda continued to gift wrap goals to the opposition.

Turnovers and infertility on the power play doomed the ‘Cuda in a 5-1 loss to the Henderson Silver Knights on Friday evening at SAP Center.

San Jose has lost their past two games. Henderson have won four games in a row. They have points in seven straight (6-0-1-0) and are 8-2-1-0 over their last 11 games.

San Jose (11-15-1-0) played shorthanded with only dressing 11 forwards and six defensemen as there have been changes to the roster with the San Jose Sharks bringing up seven players from the ‘Cuda.

Henderson (15-7-2-1) drew first blood late in the first period on the power play. Pavel Dorofeyev and Ben Jones combined to find Connor Cocoran along the left slot and Cocoran’s one-timer beat ‘Cuda goalie Sam Harvey for a tic-tac-toe of a goal, Cocoran’s second of the season at the 13:22 mark.

The Barracuda had 10 shots in the opening frame, but Silver Knights goalie Jiri Patera was perfect through the first 20 minutes.

Henderson doubled its lead nine seconds into the second period. A turnover by the ‘Cuda inside their own zone led to Dorofeyev roofing a wrist shot from the right wing past Harvey for his 11th goal of the season.

San Jose cut the lead in half under three minutes later with a short-handed goal. John Leonard stripped the puck off of Peter DiLiberatore in the neutral zone. Leonard skated in and from the left slot snapped home a wrist shot top shelf past Patera for his fourth goal of the season at the 2:39 mark.

It was the seventh short-handed goal the Barracuda have scored this season.

The Silver Knights regained its two-goal lead thanks to another Barracuda turnover. Ben Jones pick-pocketed the puck away from Santeri Hatakka. Jones skated backwards toward the crease where his initial shot was stopped by Harvey. However, the native of Waterloo, Ontario poked home his own rebound for his 11th goal of the season at the 7:00 mark.

Henderson scored its second power play of the game halfway through the middle frame. Lucas Elvenes found Cocoran along the left wing and the Silver Knight defenseman scorched a one-timer past Harvey for his second goal of the game and third of the season at the 9:15 mark.

The Silver Knights scored its fourth goal of the middle frame when Dorofeyev sent a puck toward the net from the end line and Jake Leschyshyn redirected past Harvey for his seventh goal of the season 15:21 mark.

‘Cuda head coach Roy Sommer replaced Harvey in goal with Alexei Melnichuk to start the third period. Harvey finished with 17 saves on 22 shots in 40 minutes of action.

San Jose had a five-on-three power play opportunity in the beginning of the third period but weren’t able to generate any quality scoring chances as Henderson was able to kill it off without much difficulty.

Patera finished the evening stopping 27 of the 28 he faced to earn the victory. Melnichuk handled all six shots he had to deal with in mop-up duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-6 on the power play. Henderson was 2-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Dorofeyev 2) Corcoran 3) Patera

Sommer sits just one victory shy of 800 in his career. The Oakland, Calif., native has been behind the bench for 1,700 games in the AHL, going 799-694-48-160 (W-L-T-OTL/SOL) over that span. During the 2015-16 season, the Barracuda’s first in San Jose, Sommer surpassed Fred “Bun” Cook (636 wins) for the most wins in AHL history, notching a 4-2 victory on Feb. 10, 2016, over Ontario. Sommer collected his 700th win on Dec. 3, 2017, at Bakersfield (2-1 W).

Forward Evander Kane did not play as he still on the Covid-19 protocol.

The Sharks recalled goaltender Adin Hill, defensemen Ryan Merkley and Jaycob Megna, and forwards Nick Merkley, Adam Raska, Scott Reedy, Jayden Halbgewachs, and Jasper Weatherby. In a corresponding move, the Barracuda recalled forward Kyle Topping of the Orlando Solar Bears on Thursday.

Artemi Kniazev and Timur Ibragimov have been added to Covid-19 protocol.

UP NEXT: San Jose and Henderson conclude their two-game series on Saturday 1/8 at 7:00pm at SAP Center.

The San Jose Barracuda battling it out with the Henderson Silver Knights in game 2 of the Pacific Division Finals at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Sun May 23, 2021 (@sjbarracuda photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

LAS VEGAS, Nev.–The Henderson Silver Knights scored three goals off of special teams en route to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 4-2 on Sunday afternoon at Orleans Arena.

Henderson swept the best of three series and now will wait to host the winner of the San Diego Gulls-Bakersfield Condors semifinal series in the Pacific Division Finals. The winner of that series receives the John D. Chick trophy. San Jose ends their season having lost their last five games against the Silver Knights.

San Jose drew first blood on the first shot of the game just 40 seconds into the first period. Jacob Middleton threw a puck up to the neutral zone that sprung a two-on-one rush with Jake McGrew and Jayden Halbgewachs. McGrew skated down the left slot and snapped home a wrist shot past Silver Knights goalie Logan Thompson for his second goal of the playoffs.

Ivan Chekhovic was injured during a collision with a Brayden Pachal inside the Silver Knights zone with 10:45 left in the first period. Pachal was given a five-minute major for interference. It appeared Pachal delivered a knee-on-knee hit to Chekhovich. Kyle Topping received a penalty for roughing Pachal after the whistle was blown.

Chekhovic didn not return to the game.

Henderson answered back with a short-handed goal while killing the major penalty to Pachal. Gage Quinney carried the puck out its own zone and skated down the right wing where he used Robby Russo as a screen as he fired a wrist shot that beat ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar to the far side for his first goal of the playoffs at the 12:26 mark. Kaedan Korczak received the only assist on the play.

Quinney had three short-handed goals during the regular season.

Henderson gained its first lead of the game early in the second period. Paul Cotter sent a pass up to center ice over to Tomas Jurco from inside his own zone. Jurco skated in made a move and beat Korenar with a wrist shot for his first goal of the playoffs at the 1:59 mark.

The Silver Knights went up 3-1 less than three minutes later with its second short-handed goal of the game. A turnover in the neutral zone led to a two-on-one opportunity led by Danny O’Regan. The ‘Cuda killer haunted his old team once again as his wrist show beat Korenar for his first goal of the playoffs at the 4:47 mark.

San Jose made up for the shortie the gave up with a power play goal late on the man advantage. A shot from the left slot from Middleton was saved by Thompson but the rebound bounced around the crease. Maxim Letunov crashed the net and cleaned up the rebound with a backhander past Thompson for his second goal of the playoffs at the 6:24 mark.

The Silver Knights regained its two-goal lead with a power play goal of its own halfway through the second period. Ryan Murphy found O’Regan along the right slot. O’Regan’s initial shot was blocked but he followed up his own shot and put home the rebound past Korenar for his second goal of the game at the 9:06 mark.

The third period went scoreless as Henderson out shot San Jose nine to eight.

Thompson finished the game stopping 30 of the 32 shots he faced to earn the victory. Korenar suffered his second straight loss as he made 24 saves on 28 shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1-for-5 on the power play. Henderson was 1-for-4.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) O’Regan 2) Jurco 3) Quinney

The San Jose Barracuda will be battling with everything on the line in game 2 down 1-0 to the Henderson Golden Knights in the AHL Pacific Division semifinals at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas (photo from @sjbarracuda)

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The Henderson Silver Knights proving to be the successful AHL minor league affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights proved why they and their parent club is so successful with a three goal 4-1 convincing win over the San Jose Barracuda on Friday night at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

#2 Marko talk about Barracuda goaltender Josef Korenar and who face 30 shots and allowed two goals to the Knights in game one of this playoff round a tough night for Korenar.

#3 The Knights Logan Thompson stopped 22 of 23 shots allowing the Barracuda’s Jayden Halbgewachs the only San Jose goal for the night.

#4 Look out for the Knights Jack Dugan who scored a hat trick scoring two empty netters talk about taking advantage of a short handed situation.

#5 Barracuda and Knights square off again Sunday night at Orleans Arena the Knights are holding the home ice advantage and are coming off a three goal win against from game 1 and after Dugan’s hat trick this team has a strong offense. Can Cuda head coach Roy Sommer and the Barracuda even up this series?

Join Marko for the Barracuda podcast Saturday nights at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

The Henderson Silver Knights center Jake Leschyshyn (39) and the San Jose Barracuda defenceman Brinson Pasichnuk (50) scramble for the puck on open ice during game 1 of the Pacific Division Semifinals on Fri May 21, 2021 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas (@sjbarracuda photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

LAS VEGAS, Nev.–The Henderson Silver Knights opened their first ever playoff game with a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Barracuda in game one of the Pacific Division Semifinals on Friday evening at Orleans Arena.

Henderson went up 1-0 in the best of three Pacific Division semifinals series. The Barracuda kept the game close throughout the majority of the game until the Silver Knights put the game away with a couple of empty net goals.

The Silver Knights drew first blood on an even strength goal in the first period. A clearing attempt by ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar went out of the reach of Jacob Middleton. Brayden Pachal collected the puck along the right boards and wristed a shot towards the net where Jack Dugan redirected past Korenar for his first goal of the playoffs at the 8:20 mark.

San Jose answered back late in the opening 20 minutes. Jake McGrew fired in a shot from the right wing and Jayden Halbgewachs, who was camped out in front of the crease, tipped home the puck past Silver Knights goalie Logan Thompson for his first goal of the playoffs at the 15:02 mark.

The Barracuda out shot the Silver Knights 11-9 in the first period.

Henderson regained the lead halfway through the second period. Maxim Marushev led a two-on-one odd man rush with Pavel Dorofeyev. Marushev threaded a pass over to Dorofeyev who skated in and slipped a bandhander through the five-hole of Korenar for his first goal of the playoffs at the 10:19 mark.

Dorofeyev scored four of his nine goals during the regular season against San Jose.

Henderson out shot San Jose 14-7 in the middle frame.

San Jose had a chance to score the equalizer with a power play halfway through the third period but weren’t able to capitalize on its only chance with the man advantage.

Dugan iced the game with his two empty net goals at the end of the game. His first empty netter (and second of the game) came at the 18:32 mark. Then he completed the hat trick with his second empty netter with 19 seconds left.

Thompson finished the game with 22 shots on 23 shots to earn the victory. Korenar made 30 saves on 32 shots in the losing effort.

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

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Dorofeyev 2) Dugan 3) Thompson

UP NEXT: Game 2 is slated for Sunday 5/23 at 1:00pm at Orleans Arena.