RUSH CLINCH PLAYOFF SPOT WITH 4-1 WIN OVER MAVERICKS

SLAPSHOT POSTGAME COVERAGE PRESENTED BY ASSURANT SOLUTIONS

RUSH CLINCH PLAYOFF SPOT WITH 4-1 WIN OVER MAVERICKS

(RAPID CITY, SD) – Daniel Barczuk netted 2 goals, Kevin Harvey extended his goal-scoring streak to four games, and Danny Battochio won his eighth consecutive game, as the Rapid City Rush defeated the Missouri Mavericks by a 4-1 count on Wednesday night in Rapid City. The win gives the Rush its first berth into the ECHL’s Kelly Cup Playoffs, and its sixth consecutive berth into postseason play in the seven years of the organization’s existence.

For the 11th time in 15 head-to-head showdowns between the Rush and the Mavericks, the Rush struck first. At the 12:17 mark of the first period, Patrick Cullen won an offensive zone faceoff cleanly to the Captain, Winston Day Chief. Day Chief rifled a one-timer past Missouri goaltender Mike Clemente to give the Rush a 1-0 lead. Almost four minutes later, Daniel Barczuk recorded the first 20-goal season of his 3-year career, slamming a backdoor one-timer from Scott Brannon past Clemente to double the Rush lead to 2-0 at with 3:17 left in the frame.

The Mavericks halved their deficit in the second period on the strength of their power play. On the Mavericks third man-advantage of the evening, Tyler Currier recorded his fourth goal since returning to the Mavericks organization, beating Rush netminder Danny Battochio on the backdoor to bring the score to 2-1 with 4:48 gone by in the middle frame.

The Rush put things away in the third period, behind the red-hot scoring of Kevin Harvey. For a fourth consecutive game, Harvey ignited the goal lamp, finishing a two-on-one rush with Patrick Cullen to re-establish the Rush’s 2-goal lead at 3-1 with 10:28 gone by in the final period. Barczuk added an empty-netter with 1:24 left in the game, sealing a 4-1 victory for the Rush: a victory that sends them to their first ever Kelly Cup Playoffs.

Danny Battochio won his 8th straight game, stopping all but one of the 24 shots thrown towards his net (25-17-2). For 6 consecutive seasons, in seven years of existence, the Rush have qualified for postseason play at the AA hockey level.

The Rush finish out their home portion of the regular season at Premier Home Mortgage Ice at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center with a weekend series against the Quad City Mallards. Puck drop for Friday is slated for 7:05 p.m. MST. Saturday features the retirement of Scott Wray’s #17 into the rafters, with his retirement ceremony beginning at 7:05 p.m. MST.

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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.

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