Facing elimination on Thursday evening, the Henderson Silver Knights scored four times in the first period en route to a 6-3 win over Bakersfield in Game 2 of the teams’ Pacific Division finals in Las Vegas.
The decisive Game 3 — the final game of the 2020-21 AHL season — will be Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena (10:00 ET, AHLTV).
Dylan Sikura and Jonas Rondbjerg each scored twice in the opening frame to stake the Silver Knights to a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes. Maxim Marushev scored in the second period, the first career AHL goal for Vegas’s seventh-round draft pick in 2020, and Danny O’Regan added an empty-netter in the final minute of regulation.
Logan Thompson made 21 saves for Henderson, which played Game 2 without captain Ryan Murphy and forwards Tomas Jurco and Gage Quinney. But the Silver Knights did get defenseman Carl Dahlstrom back from injury and welcomed Cody Glass (two assists) back to the lineup after he had made his Stanley Cup Playoff debut with Vegas on Wednesday.
Raphael Lavoie, Ostap Safin and Tyler Benson scored for the Condors, who lost for just the second time in their last 10 meetings with Henderson.
Stuart Skinner allowed four goals on 15 shots in the first period before giving way to Olivier Rodrigue, who finished with 13 saves.
Pacific Division Finals (best-of-3)
(1) Henderson Silver Knights vs. (2) Bakersfield Condors
Game 1 – Wed., May 26 – Bakersfield 3, Henderson 2 (OT)
Game 2 – Thu., May 27 – Henderson 6, Bakersfield 3
Game 3 – Sat., May 29 – Bakersfield vs. Henderson, 7:00 PDT
— All games at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV
