Rookie Trevor Connelly scored 38 seconds into overtime to give the Henderson Silver Knights a 5-4 victory over San Jose in the opener of their Pacific Division first-round series on Wednesday.
Game 2 of the best-of-three series is set for Friday night in Henderson.
Connelly took an outlet pass from Matyas Sapovaliv, raced down the right wing and snapped a shot past Laurent Brossoit to give the Silver Knights the win in the first Calder Cup Playoff game ever at Lee’s Family Forum.
Each team erased a third-period deficit to get the game to overtime. San Jose held a 3-1 lead before Raphael Lavoie scored late in the second period, and Jeremy Davies and Lavoie struck 67 seconds apart in the third to put the Silver Knights ahead, 4-3.
But Igor Chernyshov answered on a power play with 9:19 left in regulation to pull the Barracuda even.
Kasperi Halttunen, Jimmy Huntington and Colin White also scored for San Jose. Lukas Cormier notched a goal and an assist for Henderson.
Carl Lindbom, who was 18-0-2 in his last 20 decisions during the regular season, made 18 saves for Henderson. Brossoit finished with 34 stops for the Barracuda.
(Henderson leads series, 1-0)
Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 22 – HENDERSON 5, San Jose 4 (OT)
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 24 – San Jose at Henderson, 10:00
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 26 – San Jose at Henderson, 6:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
