TWO FOUR POINT NIGHTS POWER RUSH PAST BEAST IN BACK AND FORTH GAME

(RAPID CITY, SD) – What started off as a back and forth affair ended with a major two points and playoff positioning shifting to one side. The Rapid City Rush and Brampton Beast played for the first time since October 25th, which was a close game decided in overtime. An extra session would not be necessary tonight, as the Rush would come out on top with a 6-3 win behind the four-point nights of Anthony Perdicaro and Jesse Schultz.

The Rush wasted no time in getting on the board, and they did it through the power play. On their first man-advantage of the game, Jesse Schultz took a pass from Anthony Perdicaro and buried it past Grant Rollheiser to give the Rush an early 1-0 lead just 1:24 into the game. 2:32 later, however, Brampton would even the score, as Andrew Fournier had numbers, but took it in himself and beat Tim Boron to tie the game at 1-1. With 9:24 left in the period, the Rush would get another strike on the man-advantage. With less than ten seconds to go on their second power play, Jared Brown shot through four pairs of legs, with the final one being Rollheiser’s, giving the Rush a 2-1 lead. Once again though, the Rush would see their lead quickly dissolve into a deadlock. 2:28 later, Jason Pitton would take advantage of a rebound on a solid first save by Tim Boron, and knock it in his open net to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the third.

The Rush would strike early in the period and take their third lead of the game, scoring their first even strength goal of the matchup. 1:18 into the period, Jesse Schultz would connect with Anthony Perdicaro between the faceoff dots, who would fling a turnaround shot past Rollheiser to give the Rush a 3-2 lead. 58 seconds later, however, the Beast would rip a series of shots on net, one of which would deflect off of two posts and to an open Calin Wild, who put it away to knot the game at 3-3, a score that would hold until the third period.

Playing off of their tendency in the game to score early in the period, the Rush would take their fourth and final lead of the game. Just 3:34 into the frame, Perdicaro and Schultz would connect once again, with Schultz finishing a feathered pass past Rollheiser to give the Rush a 4-3 lead. Schultz would cap off his four-point night with an assist on Kyle Stroh’s 13th goal of the season with 2:17 left in the game, to give the Rush some breathing room with a 5-3 lead. Kevin Harvey would score an empty-netter at the buzzer that counted, ultimately giving the Rush a 6-3 win.

Tim Boron made 21 saves for his 29th win of the season (29-12-1). Justin Faryna became the 21st player in Rush history to play in 100 games in the Black Hills. Both Anthony Perdicaro and Jesse Schultz recorded four-point nights: Schultz scored and assisted twice, and Perdicaro scored once with three assists. The Rush remain in third place in the CHL standings with four games remaining, all of them against the Beast. Their second matchup of the series is tomorrow night at 7:15, the final home game of the year for the Rush.

Other Rush News:

Playoff tickets are now available for the 2013-14 postseason as the Rush gear up for their Rush for the Ray Miron President’s Cup!! Call the Rush office at 716-7825 for details.

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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