Despite injuries slowing down his season at points, Trevor Connelly was able to put the Henderson Silver Knights on his back at the best possible time.
On Saturday, the Silver Knights were able to find the jump they needed to pull off the 4-3 comeback victory over the Abbotsford Canucks.
After surviving an early push from Abbotsford, the Silver Knights were able to make good on their first shot of the game. Connelly was able to cut through to the front of the net, eventually beating Canucks goaltender Ty Young to get the scoring started. It has continued an excellent stretch for Connelly, who was coming off a hat trick against Abbotsford on Friday.
“Very good,” said Silver Knights head coach Ryan Craig on Connelly’s six-point performance over the past couple of games.
“His game with the puck is dynamic, we know that. It’s nice to see a puck start to go in for him. We want him to shoot.”
With the game calming down and after a bit of penalty trouble, the Canucks were able to get the game tied with Ty Mueller firing a shot past Henderson goaltender Carl Lindbom from the slot.
The second period would see the Canucks take advantage of an offensive zone penalty to take the lead. Defenseman Victor Mancini was able to rip a point shot through traffic and past Lindbom on the high glove side to give Abbotsford their first lead of the game.
A successful penalty kill on a Tanner Laczynski double minor would see the ice tilt in Henderson’s favor, however.
“I think that gives everyone momentum. It gives us momentum, takes some momentum away from them,” said Silver Knights defenseman Lukas Cormier on the penalty killers’ efforts.
“A little bit of frustration on their part. Myself more on the power play and we can’t score, you get frustrated a little bit, so it’s nice to get a kill like that and get a little bit of momentum.”
After a promising stretch to close out the second period, the Silver Knights would finally get the game level in the third. Taking advantage of an offensive zone penalty on Abbotsford, Connelly would find Matyas Sapovaliv for a one-timer that beat Young through his five hole.
A Jett Woo goal that beat Lindbom from a tough angle to give the lead back to the Canucks did not deter the Silver Knights, who got the game right back to even. On another power play, Connelly connected with Sapovaliv again. The 2022 second-round pick’s second goal of the night was also his 10th on the season.
“I’ve been playing netfront lately on the power play and just liked the position,” said Sapovaliv on his impact on the man advantage. “I can get some rebounds and just work hard for the puck.”
With the game tied, Lindbom responded after the Woo goal with timely saves, getting the better of the Canucks despite facing multiple grade A opportunities.
“He just gives us so much confidence,” said Sapovaliv about Lindbom.
“We can trust him and he’ll just make one more save. He’s giving us a chance to win every night.”
Using the momentum, Jackson Hallum put the dagger in. With six seconds remaining, Kai Uchacz was able to find Hallum streaking to the front of the net. He would beat Young with a shot in the top corner, and ultimately seal the comeback win for the Silver Knights.
“We all know we’re trying to make a push to make the playoff here,” said Cormier on the big divisional wins over the Canucks.
“I think we have a team to do it and make some noise. You just take one game at a time. It’s a big four points for us, and that was the plan heading into the weekend.”
Now, the Silver Knights, like the rest of the United States and Canada, will turn their attention to Sunday morning’s Olympic gold medal game between the two countries at 5 am.
“I’ll be up. I’m a Canadian,” said Craig about tomorrow’s game.
“It’s great for hockey. The two teams that, no offense to everybody else, but I believe everyone wanted to see. I believe it’s going to be a great game.”