SCHULTZ' HAT-TRICK ICES 6-3 WIN OVER ALLEN

SLAPSHOT POSTGAME COVERAGE PRESENTED BY ASSURANT SOLUTIONS

SCHULTZ’ HAT-TRICK ICES 6-3 WIN OVER ALLEN

(ALLEN, TX) – Jesse Schultz added to his big weekend with a hat-trick, and Joe Howe won his first start in a Rush uniform as the Rapid City Rush earned a split with the Allen Americans by virtue of a 6-3 win in Texas on Friday night.

After a scoreless first frame, the Americans picked up from where they left off and struck twice within the first three minutes of the second period. Gary Steffes got things started for Allen just 24 seconds in, faking a pass and electing to thread the puck over the shoulder of Rush goaltender Joe Howe to give the Americans an early 1-0 lead. Exactly 2:31 later, Kevin Young cashed in on a power play goal from the near wall of the Rush zone to double the Americans advantage to 2-0. The Rush would eventually surge back moments later, with Mathieu Brisebois scoring the first five-on-three power play goal of the season for the Rush, halving the deficit to 2-1 with 12:41 left in the frame. Moments later, capitalizing on the best offensive shift of the game, Daniel Tetrault slammed home a Dylan Clarke pass in the high slot to tie the game at 2-2 with just over five minutes to play in the second.

Jesse Schultz continued the rally for the Rush, scoring off of a puck bouncing actively off the back kickplate behind the net and past a sprawled out Americans net-minder, Riley Gill, to lift the Rush over the Americans with a 3-2 lead with 10:15 to play in regulation. Schultz added a second tally 1:45 later after Daniel Barczuk negated an icing deep in the Americans zone and threw it to Schultz. He made no mistake with the puck in the high slot and eventually sent another by Gill to double the Rush lead to two goals with a 4-2 score. Allen pulled within striking distance on Gary Steffes’ second goal of the game, a power play goal, with 3:40 to go in regulation, cutting the Rush advantage to 4-3. Former American Kale Kerbashian added an empty net tally with 1:28 to play, followed by Jesse Schultz’ empty-netter to complete his hat-trick with 20.4 seconds remaining to ultimately power the Rush to a 6-3 victory.

Joe Howe made 26 saves on 29 shots faced, earning his first win in his first start with the Rush (1-0-0 with Rush, 5-3-2 overall). Schultz’ became the second Rush player to net a hat-trick this season, which results in a five-point weekend for him along with 2 assists last night.

The Rush begin their final “three-in-three” set on Thursday, February 5th, followed by a February 6th trip to Missouri, and concluding back in Tulsa on Sunday, February 7th.

Other Rush News:

Join Rush Nation for only $10 per game! Call the Rush office at 716-7825 for details, and stay informed on all Rush happenings this summer through the official Rapid City Rush team website, www.RapidCityRush.com, and the Rapid City Rush mobile app, available on iTunes and Google Play.

######