RUSH END SKID WITH WIN AGAINST AMERICANS

(RAPID CITY, SD) – Gabriel Chabot, Peter Quenneville, and Tyler Coulter each scored in each period of regulation, and powered by Adam Carlson’s 34 saves, led the Rapid City Rush to a 3-2 win over the Allen Americans on Wednesday night. The win serves as the team’s first of 2021, and ends a 6-game losing streak dating back to December 12th.

The Rush came out guns blazing in the first period out-shooting the Americans by nearly a 10-1 margin at the midway point of the frame. After 20 minutes, though, both teams left level at 1-1. Gabriel Chabot got the Rush on the board first at 17:30 of the first period, coming on a neutral zone rush into the Americans zone. Chabot gained the blue line and fired a shot off the defender in front of him, snagged his rebound, and zipped a shot through Allen goalie Zach Sawchenko to give the Rush a 1-0 lead (Shawn Boutin assisted). The Americans drew the game level late in the first period, capitalizing on the only Rush power play of the contest with a shorthanded goal. With 9.3 seconds remaining in the first, Josh Lammon took advantage of a chaotic sequence in front of the Rush net, and potted the puck behind Rush net-minder Adam Carlson to square the game at 1-1 (Tyler Sheehy notched the lone assist).

The Rush carried their only power play to the start of the second period, but capitalized to retake the lead shortly after it expired. Just 53 seconds into the second, Avery Peterson drove the Allen net, and was denied by Sawchenko. Quenneville was in the area code to pick up the rebound and flip it over the Allen goaltender to re-establish the Rush lead at 2-1 (Peterson and Charlie Curti assisted).

Playing off of a recent trend of early scoring in periods, the Rush came back with another tally in the first five minutes of the final frame. At 3:46 of the third, Drew Callin found Tyler Coulter in the high-slot from behind the net with an east-west pass. Coulter uncorked a one-timer past Sawchenko to increase the Rush lead to 3-1 (Callin and Mikael Tam assisted). The Americans eventually found the goal column late in the game, and came within striking distance of the Rush. With 2:22 left in the game, Allen utilized a six-on-four advantage with their last power play and an extra-attacker with Sawchenko pulled from his net. Jake McGrew called for a one-time pass in the slot from Joseph Gareffa and rifled it past Carlson, bringing the Americans within one at 3-2 (Garreffa and Alex Lavoie assisted). With Sawchenko pulled for the extra-attacker again, the Rush battened down the hatches and stood tall on defense, closing out with a 3-2 victory to end their six-game losing streak.

Adam Carlson stopped 34 of 36 shots on his net, earning his first win since home-opening night on December 11th vs Utah (2-4-0-0).

The Rush continue their eight-game homestand with game two of this week’s three-game series against the archrival Allen Americans. Puck drop for Friday, January 8th and Saturday, January 9th, is slated for 7:05 p.m. MDT. Friday night’s game celebrates the birthday of our lovable mascot, Nugget, presented by Black Hills Energy! Mascot friends of his from all over will help celebrate the occasion with fun, interactive activities for all children in attendance. Don’t forget to help us salute our front-line workers and local heroes during Saturday’s series finale and “Local Heroes Night”, presented by Vitalant. Without their sacrifice and dedication during the Covid-19 pandemic, our season would not be possible.

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