The Henderson Silver Knights, despite a push in the third period, fell 5-4 to the Colorado Eagles on Saturday evening. Connor Ford (1G, 2A) recorded a three-point night. Brendan Brisson, Lukas Cormier, and Maxim Marushev also notched goals.
The Eagles opened the scoring with goals from Smallman at 2:34 and Kaut at 7:55 in the first period.
Brisson would then halve the lead late in the first, assisted by Daniil Chayka and Ford. Brisson intercepted an Eagles pass in their own zone, and the Silver Knights re-established their passing game. Chayka sailed it to where Brisson was waiting in the slot, and he buried it to make it a 2-1 game.
The second period began much the same way as the first. Beaucage and Middleton both recorded goals just 39 seconds apart to re-establish a convincing 4-1 lead for Colorado.
Cormier, assisted by Gage Quinney and Sakari Manninen, scored on the power play. He fired in a shot from the point to bring the Knights back within two. Marushev, assisted by Ford, then made it a 4-3 game early in the third.
Ranta re-extended the Eagles’ lead to two with an unassisted goal midway through the period.
Although Ford scored with the extra skater on, assisted by Quinney and Spencer Foo, for his third point of the night, Henderson’s efforts fell just short for a final score of 5-4.
The Silver Knights will continue their season tomorrow at 2 p.m. Pacific Time, where they will face Colorado for the second half of their back-to-back. Fans can tune in on 1230 The Game or AHL TV.