Jack Dugan and Pavel Dorofeyev provided the offense and fellow rookie Logan Thompson stopped 22 shots as Henderson defeated San Jose, 4-1, in Game 1 of their Pacific Division semifinal series in Las Vegas on Friday night.
The Silver Knights take a 1-0 lead into Game 2 of the best-of-three series on Sunday afternoon (4:00 ET, AHLTV).
Dugan opened the scoring 8:20 into the first period, redirecting Brayden Pachal‘s shot from the right-wing wall to give Henderson a 1-0 lead.
San Jose tied the score on a similar play, with Jake McGrew sending the puck on net and Jayden Halbgewachs tipping it home to make it 1-1 at 15:02 of the first.
Dorofeyev put the Silver Knights in front for good with 9:41 to play in the second period, getting behind the Barracuda defense and converting a pass from Maxim Marushev.
Dugan then completed his first pro hat trick with a pair of empty-net tallies, securing the victory in Henderson’s first-ever postseason game.
Thompson, who led the AHL with a .943 save percentage during the regular season, allowed one goal or fewer for the 10th time in his 24 starts this year.
Josef Korenar, who backstopped the Barracuda to consecutive wins in the play-in round earlier this week, stopped 30 of 32 shots in the loss.
Pacific Division Semifinals (best-of-3)
(1) Henderson Silver Knights vs. (4) San Jose Barracuda
Game 1 – Fri., May 21 – Henderson 4, San Jose 1
Game 2 – Sun., May 23 – Henderson vs. San Jose, 1:00 PDT
Game 3 – Mon., May 24 – San Jose vs. Henderson, 1:00 PDT (if necessary)
— All games at Las Vegas, NV
