The Henderson Silver Knights defeated the Iowa Wild, 7-3, at Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday evening. Eleven different Silver Knights found their way onto the scoresheet, with three-point nights from Sheldon Rempal and Grigori Denisenko. 

Byron Froese opened the scoring early for the Knights with a goal less than a minute in. He tipped in Denisenko’s long shot from the top of the crease to put Henderson up early. 

Adam Cracknell then doubled that lead two minutes later with his third goal of the series, which was also the 200th goal of his AHL career. Mason Morelli sent Cracknell a pass through the crease and he fired it in to make it a 2-0 game. Jakub Brabenec also collected an assist on the goal, his second of the weekend. 

Brendan Brisson added a third goal for the Knights in the first period. Assisted by Tyler Benson and Gage Quinney, he put a wrister past the Wild for his first goal of the 2023-24 season. Benson’s assist also marked his 200th professional point. 

Meireles put the Wild on the board with a goal midway through the first period. 

Iowa then cut Henderson’s lead to one with a goal from Johansson early in the second period. 

Tyler Benson added a power-play goal shortly afterwards to put the Knights back up by two. Rempal passed to Benson at the top of the crease, and he buried the one-timer to make it 4-2. 

Rempal then added a goal of his own on the power play. He tipped in Christoffer Sedoff’s shot from between the hashmarks to add the Silver Knight’s fifth goal of the game. Sedoff’s assist also was his first career AHL point. 

Denisenko tallied the sixth goal of the night for Henderson, his first as a Silver Knight. He was assisted by Quinney and Brisson, each for their second points of the evening. 

O’Rourke made it a 6-3 game heading into the second intermission. 

Rempal netted his second goal of the game with an empty-netter late in the third. Denisenko picked up his third point of the night with an assist on the play. Forward Jakub Demek also earned a secondary assist on the play, his first AHL point. 

Goaltender Jiri Patera had another strong game, earning back-to-back wins in his first two starts of the season. He stopped 31 of 34 shots against, helping earn the team four out of four possible points in their opening weekend of the season. 

The Silver Knights will play their home opener against the San Jose Barracuda on Friday, October 20. Tickets are available here. Fans at home are able to tune in on radio via 1230 The Game or watch on AHL TV.  

Fans are also encouraged to help us come Forge the Path in preparation for the Silver Knights’ arrival on Friday! Details can be found here.