Silver Knights win season opener; coach taking leave of absence
Left wing Peyton Krebs scored on the fourth round of a shootout Friday night, lifting the Silver Knights to a 5-4 season-opening victory over the Colorado Eagles at Orleans Arena.
The teams took a 4-4 tie through most of the third period and through overtime. Silver Knights’ Pavel Dorofeyev and Eagles’ Martin Kaut both scored in the first round of the shootout, but the teams went scoreless through two more rounds until Krebs’ goal.
Knights forward Lynden McCallum tied the game at 4-4 with a goal at 4:26 into the third period, helping to send the game into overtime. Defenseman Daniil Miromanov also scored a goal and assisted on two others while Jack Dugan and Dorofeyev scored in regulation.
Logan Thompson, who was named the AHL’s top goaltender last season, allowed four regulation goals on 47 shots, including 20 during the third period. The Eagles’ Hunter Miska gave up four goals on 25 shots.
The AHL two-game series with the Colorado Avalanche’s top minor-league team resumes at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Orleans Arena. The game also will be televised on KVCW-33.
Silver Knights coach on leave
The Silver Knights announced Friday that coach Manny Viveiros is taking a “non-COVID medical leave of absence from the team.”
The news came hours before the team’s season opener against the Colorado Eagles at 7 p.m. at Orleans Arena.
Assistant coach Jamie Steward will lead the Silver Knights in Viveiros’ absence, along with assistant coach Joel Ward, goaltending coach Fred Brathwaite and video coach Andrew Doty. The team said it will “provide additional updates when appropriate.”
Viveiros was hired before the Silver Knights’ inaugural season and led them to a 25-13-1 record in 2020. They won the Pacific Division, and their .654 points percentage was sixth-best in the American Hockey League.
Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.