HENDERSON, N.V – The Silver Knights will continue their home stretch with a single-game contest on Wednesday against the Tucson Roadrunners, who are sixth in the Pacific Division. The Knights look to continue a strong winning streak after two weekend victories against the second-place Calgary Wranglers, with both coaches and players noting that structure and limiting turnovers were crucial for success.
“We knew we had to stay above them and make them beat us, not beat ourselves,” forward Connor Ford said of the team’s two strong games against Calgary.
“We’ve been trying to focus on that, just trying to limit turnovers and play as fast as we can,” added assistant coach Joel Ward.
“Once we got a chance to do that, we were able to create some opportunities and turnovers and play offensive time.”
The Silver Knights will also look to continue their strong special teams work against the Roadrunners. Tucson ranks 20th in the league on the power play, converting 18.5 percent of their opportunities, and 28th in the league on the penalty kill, killing 76.5 percent of opposing team’s power plays.
“We have our best players out there on the PK, and we have to tip the cap to [assistant coach Jamie Heward] as well. We’ve had a lot of success with that lately, and that’s the difference in games: special teams,” Ford added.
LAST TIME OUT
The Henderson Silver Knights defeated the Calgary Wranglers in back-to-back games at The Dollar Loan Center on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. On Friday, Jonas Rondbjerg*, Jake Bischoff, and Spencer Foo all netted goals to help the Knights triumph over Calgary, 3-1. Goaltender Jiri Patera stopped 36 of 37 shots on goal for a .972 save percentage on the evening.
On Saturday, the Knights triumphed again, 4-2. Rondbjerg, Sheldon Rempal, Gage Quinney, and Maxim Marushev all scored for the Knights, with Marushev (1G, 1A), Brendan Brisson (0G, 2A), and Lukas Cormier (0G, 2A) all recording two-point nights. Goaltender Laurent Brossoit stopped 32 of 34 shots for a .941 save percentage on the evening.
*currently called up to the Vegas Golden Knights
PLAYERS TO WATCH
- Forward Gage Quinney has 8 points (6G, 2A) in the team’s last 10 games. He also leads the Silver Knights in both points, with 27, and goals, with 15, on the season.
- Tucson forward Michael Carcone leads the AHL in points, with 50 (20G, 30A). He has nine points (4G, 5A) in the team’s last five games. He has been named to the AHL All-Star Game.
- Goaltender Laurent Brossoit has a GAA of 2.56 and a save percentage of .912 in 19 games played. The other half of Henderson’s goaltending tandem, Jiri Patera, has a GAA of 2.69 and a save percentage of .914 in 16 games played. Both goalies have saved 30 or more shots in their most recent starts.
ACTIVE HSK POINT LEADERS
Gage Quinney: 28 (16G, 12A)
Sheldon Rempal: 28 (9G, 19A)
Lukas Cormier: 20 (4G, 16A)
Brendan Brisson: 16 (5G, 11A)
Sakari Manninen 12 (2G, 10A)
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Fans can watch Wednesday’s game on AHL TV with subscription. Fans can also listen to the radio broadcast on 1230 The Game.