Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
If Raphael Lavoie has a few more goals in his stick, the Henderson Silver Knights will definitely take them.
Lavoie, of course, has been one of the AHL’s most dangerous snipers for several years now. But he took his production to even higher levels this season at age 25. Lavoie, who played just 45 regular-season games for Henderson, finished with 30 goals and 56 points. He had three more goals in Henderson’s opening series sweep of the San Jose Barracuda.
But now the Silver Knights have run into the Colorado Eagles, an opponent that can handle even the league’s best offenses. The Eagles have managed to hold Lavoie scoreless in three playoff contests so far and can finish off the Silver Knights in Game 4 of the teams’ best-of-five semifinal series on Saturday night.
After the teams split the first two games of the series on Henderson ice, Colorado clamped down even harder Wednesday night with a 4-0 victory in which the Silver Knights produced just 20 shots on goal. It was the second shutout of the series and the third of the season against Henderson for Trent Miner and the Eagles.
Henderson also has had to go without a top puck distributor in defenseman Dylan Coghlan, who has been on recall to the Vegas Golden Knights for the past two games. Another threat, forward Matyas Sapovaliv, missed Game 3. Sapovaliv had 18 goals in his second AHL season.
There have not been many nights like that for Lavoie or his Henderson teammates. The Silver Knights finished first in the AHL scoring 3.65 goals per game and on the power play (26.0 percent).
Break down Lavoie’s numbers any which way, and those splits are jarring. At one point, he stacked up 24 goals in a 26-game stretch. He had a 16-game point streak between March 11 and April 14, tied for the third-longest in the AHL this season, during which he amassed 29 points, including 16 goals. His 13 goals in 14 games in March, the highest monthly by an AHL player since April 2022, made him the Fortune Tires “Expect More” AHL Player of the Month.
Most of all, Henderson went from eighth in the Pacific Division and six points out of a playoff spot at the AHL All-Star break to a team that climbed all the way to third place. They then swept the San Jose Barracuda to open the postseason to earn this match-up with Colorado.
Henderson is hardly the first team to have problems with Colorado. The Eagles held the San Diego Gulls to one goal in two games for a first-round sweep. Colorado is an experienced, puck-hungry group that possesses the collective mobility to blanket the ice and hurry opponents into errors. It’s clear that the Silver Knights have adjustments to make for Game 4.
But the Silver Knights, who went on a 22-3-1-3 run, have their own reasons for optimism, starting with Lavoie. His release ranks among the AHL’s best, he possesses a dangerous shot selection, and he can dish the puck as well to keep opponents off-balance as well.
And there are plenty of candidates to take some of the pressure of him. Tanner Laczynski was a Second Team AHL All-Star. Mitch McLain, Ben Hemmerling and Kai Uchacz all hit the 20-goal mark this season, but have not yet found the net in the playoffs. Rookie Trevor Connelly had 49 points in 46 games. Braeden Bowman. Alexander Holtz. Jonas Røndbjerg. A talented back end that includes Lukas Cormier and Jeremy Davies. The threats come one after another, and it’s always difficult to completely shut down that kind of depth for too long.
Perhaps most dangerous about this team is how quickly these players can overwhelm an opponent. During a six-game winning streak in March they notched 37 goals. They had eight games with six or more goals down the stretch. They are able to cut off opposing plays in their own zone and immediately counter-attack off the rush.
“Everybody just plays with a lot of confidence,” Lavoie said, “and we make plays. Puck bounces our way, and it just spins into…the opposite of a vicious cycle, basically. It just keeps rolling.
“We’re very sound defensively. We’re hard to play against, and we capitalize on our chances when we get them.”
They get at least one more chance Saturday to make their point.
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
