(HENDERSON) – Jake Leschyshyn scored the first goal in Silver Knights history and Danny O’Regan added a pair of his own, as the Henderson Silver Knights (1-0-0) skated to a 5-2 victory over the Ontario Reign (0-1-0) in their inaugural contest on Saturday night at the Orleans Arena.
Rookies Jack Dugan and Peyton Krebs each notched assists in their professional debuts, while goaltender Logan Thompson made 29 saves to notch his first career AHL win.
Leschyshyn netted Henderson’s first goal at 1:41 of the second period off an Ontario turnover. Reign defenseman Markus Phillips mishandled a puck along the boards below the goal line in his own zone, the puck squirting free into the left face-off circle. Leschyshyn pounced on the loose puck and fired a one-timer past Ontario goaltender Matthew Villalta to tie the score 1-1.
Rasmus Kupari put the Reign back in front 2-1 just 43 seconds after Leschyshyn’s tally. The Silver Knights would draw even again at 4:29 when Jake Bischoff’s wrist shot from the right circle beat Villalta to make it 2-2.
Henderson took the lead at 13:05 of the second period when O’Regan set up Dylan Sikura in the left circle for Sikura’s first goal as a Silver Knight.
O’Regan padded the lead at 18:07 of the third period, moments after Thompson preserved the Henderson advantage with a series of point-blank stops on Blaine Byron. Krebs led the Silver Knights on a 2-on-1 rush, feeding O’Regan on the right wing for a wrist shot past Villalta to make it 4-2. O’Regan added an empty-net goal at 19:02 to make it 5-2 Henderson and cap off a three-point night.
Ontario opened the scoring at 18:54 of the first period on Daniel Brickley’s wrist shot through traffic from the left point. Quinton Byfield picked up assist for his first professional point.
The Silver Knights and Ontario Reign will square off again on Monday night at 5:00 p.m. PST at the Orleans Arena.
GOALS: Leschyshyn (1); Bischoff (1); Sikura (1); O’Regan (1,2)
Logan Thompson: 29 saves on 31 shots
Henderson Power Play: 0-for-3
Ontario Power Play: 0-for-4
