Around The AHL | Silver Knights push back, force deciding game

In a season in which so much had gone right for the Henderson Silver Knights, head coach Manny Viveiros wanted to see how his players would handle facing playoff elimination.

For Viveiros, it was a message received, as the Silver Knights cruised past the Bakersfield Condors, 6-3, in Game 2 of the best-of-three Pacific Division final Thursday evening at T-Mobile Arena. Game 3 will go Saturday evening in the AHL’s final game for the abbreviated 2020-21 season.

“I think the main thing is we're going to have a really young lineup to be put into these pressure situations and [see] how [they] deal with it,” Viveiros said. “I was really, really pleased the way we responded.”

Dylan Sikura and Jonas Røndbjerg each notched a pair of first-period goals as the Silver Knights raced to a 4-0 lead in an 11:34 span and chased standout Condors starter Stuart Skinner. Sikura picked up two assists as well. Henderson received standout prospect Cody Glass from the parent Vegas Golden Knights in time for Game 2, but also had to do without captain and blueline anchor Ryan Murphy as well as forwards Tomas Jurco, Gage Quinney, and Lucas Elvenes. Glass chipped in two assists playing on a line with Sikura and red-hot Danny O'Regan.