The Henderson Silver Knights are back in the Calder Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2022, securing their spot with a pair of thrilling comeback wins over the Tucson Roadrunners this weekend.
Trailing 3-0 on Friday, Henderson stormed back to win 4-3 on Viliam Kmec’s goal with less than a minute remaining. The next night, needing a regulation win, the Silver Knights scored twice in the final 1:26 to win 5-4.
“Step one complete,” coach Ryan Craig said. “Happy for our guys.”
The surge began after the All-Star break. Henderson went 17-3-3 in their last 23 games, the best record in the American Hockey League over that span. The turnaround followed a 4-2 win over San Jose on Valentine’s Day weekend that snapped a five-game losing streak, though the next night they lost 8-4.
“There was a week after that where we talked about some lessons that needed to be learned,” Craig said. “At some point, it clicked. We talk about degrees of separation. It’s just a few degrees, or a degree, that we’re on the right side of it. We’ve been playing with confidence and engagement.”
Tanner Laczynski, 28, leads the team with 63 points, fourth most in the AHL. Top prospect Trevor Connelly extended his point streak to 17 games with an assist Saturday. Raphael Lavoie was the league’s player of the month in March after 13 goals and 20 points.
The Silver Knights also got a boost from winger Braeden Bowman, reassigned from the NHL club after 54 games with the Golden Knights. Bowman had five points in the two games against Tucson, including the game-winner with 15 seconds left Saturday.
“I think with this crew, this last year, we’re building a culture where we’re like brothers,” Bowman said. “It was easy for me to come in and rejoin the team. The culture that we’ve built, it’s just next man up. It showed this weekend.”
Jonas Rondbjerg also returned after missing two months with a lower-body injury. The last remaining pick from the Golden Knights’ inaugural draft class said, “It’s been two, three years since we’ve (made the playoffs). To get to do that again is really exciting.”
Home-ice advantage in the first round remains within reach. Henderson sits one point back of San Jose for fourth place and two behind Coachella Valley for third with six games left. They travel to face the Firebirds on Wednesday before hosting the Barracuda on Friday and Saturday.
“You take wins any way you can get them,” Craig said. “We’re not just trying to get in. We’re trying to get as high as we can, get as many points as we can. All we’ve done is check a box, or get an ‘X’ by our name.”
