RUSH GO THE DISTANCE WITH SHOOTOUT WIN OVER TULSA

SLAPSHOT POSTGAME COVERAGE PRESENTED BY ASSURANT SOLUTIONS

RUSH GO THE DISTANCE WITH SHOOTOUT WIN OVER TULSA

(RAPID CITY, SD) – Looking to even things up with the Tulsa Oilers on home ice, the Rapid City Rush rallied in the final period of regulation, staved off hardship in overtime, and went the distance in the shootout en route to a 2-1 win over their Central Division rivals on Friday night.

For a second consecutive game it was the Oilers on the board first. At the 9:32 mark of the opening frame, a neutral zone turnover sprung Charles Lachance and Tommy Mele on a two-on-one rush. Lachance hit Mele on the tape with a cross-ice pass, leaving Mele alone to face Rush net-minder John Griggs. Mele ripped the puck past Griggs up high to give the Sooner State visitors a 1-0 lead.

Kevin Carr played 103:29 of shutout hockey for the Oilers against the Rush this week over the span of two contests, but was finally solved by the power play unit of the Rush. Locking the game at 1-1 was Jesse Schultz, slamming home a chain of passes from Andy Huff and Cody Ferriero on an open back door. Neither team could break the deadlock for the remaining 16:31 of regulation, eventually heading into overtime.

With 3:21 remaining in the extra session, Rush forward Dylan Clarke was assessed a five-minute major, as well as a ten-minute game-misconduct for a charge on Tulsa’s Jeff Jubinville, leaving his team shorthanded for the remainder of overtime. Despite the adversity, the Rush blocked shot after shot, and behind the stellar play of Johnny Griggs in his return to the Black Hills, eventually weathered the storm, forcing a five-round shootout.

Adam Pleskach scored first for the visiting side, a lead the Oilers held on to until Rush newcomer Patrick Cullen knotted things up in the second round with a top-shelf wrister over the blocker of Carr. Both teams traded missed shots until the final round, where Daniel Barczuk followed a miss from Tulsa’s Kyle O’Kane with the game-winner, securing the second point for the Rush in a hard-earned 2-1 win.

Johnny Griggs picked up the win in his first game back in a Rush uniform (1-0-0, 4-2-0 overall), stopping 27 out of 28 shots. The Rush scored the lone power play goal of the contest off the stick of Jesse Schultz for his 11th of the season, which now places him in sole-possession of the goal-scoring lead on the Rush roster. The penalty kill for the home side held the Oilers to an 0/3 count, and 1/11 in the four games played in this recent set.

Both teams, now with two wins aside in this stretch, will conclude their five consecutive matchups tomorrow night at Premier Home Mortgage Ice in Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, with puck drop slated for 7:05 p.m. MST.

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