After being on the road, the Henderson Silver Knights landed back in Lee’s Family Forum for a top-five Western Conference matchup. The No. 7 Silver Knights fell to the No. 5 Milwaukee Admirals 4-2.
1st Period
Carter Hart started in goal for Henderson for the second time this season. His first start was on Nov. 16 when the Knights beat Calgary 5-2. The Admirals were quick on the ice and had three shots before Trevor Connelly tallied the first shot for Henderson. Jaycob Megna was called for hooking, and Milwaukee took advantage of a power play goal made by Oasiz Wiesblatt. Henderson found some offensive strength with two shots, and then the play mainly stayed at mid-ice. The Silver Knights got their first man-advantage when Daniel Carr was called for tripping, and they tallied three shots. Mathieu Cataford scored his first goal of the season, and in the AHL, to tie the game 1-1.
2nd Period
Tuomas Uronen’s double minor high-sticking penalty from the end of the first period carried into the start of the second. The Admirals quickly jumped back in the lead, scoring just 2:04 into the second period. This marked the team’s second power play goal of the game. It took the Knights 7:01 to get a shot on goal. The Admirals were quick to break up passes when Henderson was on offense. Milwaukee was also fast to take shots, leading them to outshoot the Knights 11-5 in the period.
3rd Period
Down 2-1, the Silver Knights came out strong in the third period. The men started with possession of the puck and tallied two shots. Henderson killed its first penalty of the night after Jackson Hallum was called for slashing. While the team’s offense improved from the second period, Henderson was missing key rebound chances at the net. Milwaukee extended its lead to 3-1 with a goal by Jake Lucchini with 12:23 remaining. Henderson took Hart out of the goal with less than four minutes remaining. The decision led to Megna scoring a goal, putting the Knights behind 3-2. After the face-off, Hart exited the game again. Lukas Cormier made a huge block against an Admiral shot on the empty net. However, no one was there to stop Reid Schaefer’s goal, putting the Admirals ahead 4-2.
The Silver Knights ended the game with 28 shots compared to Milwaukee’s 27. Hart recorded 23 saves.
