RUSH BACK ON WINNING PATH IN WICHITA

(WICHITA, KS) – Friday night in Wichita marked a rematch of the CHL season opener from October. The Wichita Thunder and the Rapid City Rush rekindled their rivalry in Wichita, with both teams looking to establish a new winning streak. Almost a week after suffering their first loss of the season, the Rush were back in the win column, defeating the Thunder by a 4-1 score, thanks to Scott Brannon’s 2-point night, and Tim Boron’s 39 save effort.

Coming off of a loss, the first point of business is establishing a lead, and the Rush would do exactly that, setting the tone for tonight’s matchup. 5:19 into the opening period, Justin Faryna would score his fifth goal of the season to put the Rush up 1-0 in the contest. Faryna was the beneficiary of a heads up pass from Scott Wray after Kyle Stroh pushed the puck to the captain, initiating the scoring play that Rapid City would carry into the locker room. Adversity did not stay away from the Rush, as they would go shorthanded twice in the first period, with their penalty kill having to play over the period break.

After killing off the remaining 1:10 of their second penalty kill of the night to start the second period, the Rush were back to controlling the game. Rapid City would light up the goal lamp for a second time, as Scott Brannon would be in the right place at the right time and send home a bouncing puck in front of Wichita Goaltender Torrie Jung through a calamity filled crease, and extend the Rush lead to 2-0 with 11:50 left in the second period. Eric Giosa and Jared Brown would each get a stick in on the play as the puck randomly bounced in the crease, and would be credited with help on the play. Moments later, Konrad Reeder and Winston Day Chief would go on a two-on-one break, and Reeder would send home a well-timed, textbook pass from Day Chief to extend the Rush lead to 3-0 with 6:47 left in the middle frame. Once again though, the Rush would carry penalty killing time into the locker room, this time starting off the final period with 1:12 of time while man-down.

After killing off the remaining time on their third penalty kill of the game to start the final act of regulation, the Rush would go back to work. The Rush would be faced with another penalty kill in the period, making it their fourth of the contest, but would come out of the disadvantage with an added bonus. Kyle Stroh would take the puck the length of the ice after receiving a pass from Scott Brannon and bury his first career shorthanded goal with 10:38 left in the final period of regulation. It seemed to break the back of the Thunder, but the hosts from Wichita would not go down quietly, as the Thunder would get on the scoreboard with 5:21 left in regulation. Jesse Dudas would take a rebound off of his original shot and put it past Rush net-minder Tim Boron, ending his bid for a shutout on the play, making the score 4-1, which would become finalized moments later for their eleventh win in the first twelve games of the season.

Boron stopped 39 of 40 shots, the most he has stopped in a game this season, en route to his tenth win in eleven appearances (10-1-0). Rapid City was outshot for the third time this year, 40-34. The Rush would also score their second short-handed goal of the season as well in the third period. Jesse Schultz, Konrad Reeder, and Winston Day Chief would extend their point streaks to eight, eight, and four games respectively, accounting for 14 goals, 21 assists, and 35 points for the Rush in their combined streaks. The Rush will engage in a rematch with the Thunder tomorrow night at 7:05 CST at INTRUST Bank Arena.

Other Rush News:

Other Rush News: Season tickets for the 2013-14 season are available now by calling the Rush office at 716-7825.

Don’t forget to join Mark Binetti, “Voice of the Rush”, and Head Coach/GM Joe Ferras for “The Rush Hour with Coach Ferras”, presented by Miller Lite. The show returns to the air next Monday, November 25th, and will be held at 6 PM at H2O Bar and Grill. The show is broadcast on 100.3 The FOX, the official radio home of your Rapid City Rush.

Stay informed on Rush happenings through the official Rapid City Rush team website, www.RapidCityRush.com, and the Rapid City Rush mobile app, available on iTunes and Google Play.

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