The Henderson Silver Knights defeated the Abbotsford Canucks, 5-2, on Friday evening at Abbotsford Centre. Both Mason Primeau and Daniel D’Amato recorded their first goals of the season. Adam Cracknell played in his 700th career AHL game and also recorded a primary assist on Primeau’s goal. 

The Canucks got on the board first with a goal six minutes into the period. 

Primeau tied the game at one with a backhanded goal midway through the first. Cracknell brought the puck into the zone and fought off two Canucks defenders, passing it to the unguarded Primeau. He roofed it on the backhand to even things up, with Grigori Denisenko also collecting an assist. 

With just eight seconds left in the second period, D’Amato scored on a 5-on-3 power play to give the Silver Knights their first lead of the game. Assisted by Mason Morelli and Jake Bischoff, he fired in a slap shot through traffic to make it 2-1 heading into second intermission. 

Byron Froese extended Henderson’s lead to two goals early in the third. Tyler Benson and Brendan Brisson both earned assists keeping the puck in possession for the Silver Knights below the goal line. Benson brought the puck around behind the net, then fed Froese in the slot, where he fired it in. 

Sheldon Rempal scored again 36 seconds after Froese’s goal. Daniil Chayka found Denisenko on a long pass to give the Knights an odd-man rush. He passed it to Rempal, who buried the puck to make it a 4-1 game. 

The Canucks got back within two with a goal midway through the third period. 

Morelli then scored on Abbotsford’s empty-net to give the Knights a 5-2 lead again. With his empty net goal, he earned first star of the night and his eighth point of the season. 

Goaltender Jiri Patera stopped 31 of 33 shots for a .939 save percentage on the evening, earning him third star of the night. He improved his record to 4-2-0 this season. 

The Silver Knights will return to Abbotsford Centre tomorrow for their second of the series against the Canucks.