Connelly, Laczynski Lead Henderson to 6-3 Road Win in Abbotsford

Trevor Connelly’s three-goal night and Tanner Laczynski’s second-period go-ahead snapped a back-and-forth start and sent the Henderson Silver Knights to a 6-3 win over the Abbotsford Canucks at Lee’s Family Forum on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. The game matters beyond the box score: Henderson lists itself as a proud affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights, and Laczynski joined the Silver Knights from Vegas on Jan. 30, 2026, underlining the NHL-AHL pipeline at work.

Abbotsford opened with an unlikely short-handed strike as Arshdeep Bains one-timed a pass from Nils Åman past Tolopilo at 10:25 of the first period, a goal Abbotsford said pushed Bains into franchise all-time points leader territory. Henderson answered when Trevor Connelly tied it at 14:26; Abbotsford described that first Connelly goal as a rebound buried past Tolopilo. Just 34 seconds later Danila Klimovich deflected Sawyer Mynio’s tight-angle shot at 15:00 to restore a 2-1 Canucks lead into the intermission.

The second period swung decisively toward Henderson. Connelly struck again at 26:08, HSK’s recap identified that 2-2 marker as a power-play goal while Abbotsford described it as a blast from the blue line past Tolopilo, and Tanner Laczynski put Henderson ahead at 28:06, an 8:06 second-period tally set up by a pass from Ben Hemmerling in front of the net. Connelly completed the night with a breakaway at 33:17, the Henderson recap noting it was the first hat trick of his career, and the Silver Knights took a 4-2 lead into the second intermission. Abbotsford had a late power play in the frame but did not convert.

Henderson stretched the lead early in the third when Mitch McLain wristed his 11th goal of the season into the top corner at 41:39. Mathieu Cataford added an insurance goal from the slot at 57:06 to make it 6-2 before Arshdeep Bains cut the final margin to 6-3 with a late strike at 58:11. The Rink Live’s automated scoring list provides the game-clock timestamps for Connelly (14:26, 26:08, 33:17), Laczynski (28:06), McLain (41:39), Cataford (57:06) and Bains (58:11).

Individual lines and roster context amplify the result’s significance. Flashscore shows Connelly at 20 games, 6 goals and 10 assists for 16 points; Laczynski’s Flashscore line lists 39 games, 15 goals and 27 assists for 42 points. EliteProspects records Laczynski as joining from the Vegas Golden Knights on 01/30/2026 and lists multiple recent up/down transactions for Henderson, including Dylan Coghlan joining from Vegas and several players moving to the Tahoe Knight Monsters, highlighting roster churn and NHL-AHL movement this month.

Henderson’s official recap, credited to Shane Platt, framed the night as one of "early special-teams drama, a quick reply from Henderson and a multi-goal push that put the result out of reach." The Silver Knights list a rematch at Lee’s Family Forum on Saturday, Feb. 21; HSK’s schedule shows a 6 p.m. start while an automated feed from TheRink Live reported an 8 p.m. CST time, a discrepancy the team site’s schedule resolves in favor of the 6 p.m. home start. With a 19-year-old Connelly delivering his first career hat trick and a recent NHL-affiliated arrival in Laczynski making an immediate impact, the result underlines Henderson’s role as a development and depth engine for the Vegas organization heading into the busy late-February AHL slate.