SLAPSHOT POSTGAME COVERAGE PRESENTED BY ASSURANT SOLUTIONS

RUSH TAKE IT TO ALLEN IN GAME 1 OF CENTRAL DIVISION FINALS

(ALLEN, TX) – The Rapid City Rush had nine players ink themselves on the scoresheet, led by goal and assist performances by Cody Ferriero and Daniel Barczuk, and along with 36 saves from Danny Battochio defeated the Allen Americans by a 4-2 score in Game 1 of the ECHL’s Central Division Finals. The win, the Rush’s third straight of the postseason, and 9th overall win in Game 1 of a series, came just less than 48 hours after the Rush won an exhilarating Game 7 on home ice to advance to the second round of the playoffs.

Cody Ferriero picked up from where he left off in the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs and got the Rush on the board first. On the Rush’s second power play of the game, Ferriero slammed home a loose puck past Allen goaltender Joel Rumpel in the low slot after Michael Young played the puck in for Daniel Barczuk. Ferriero’s fourth goal of the playoffs gave the Rush a 1-0 lead at 11:53 of the first period. The Americans countered with 2:03 left in the period, as Gary Steffes put a Chris Crane rebound behind Rush netminder Danny Battochio to tie the game at 1-1 heading into the second.

It would take 18:30 of the middle act, but the Rush would prevail and reclaim the lead. With 90 seconds to go, Jesse Schultz found Daniel Barczuk, who ripped one by Rumpel to re-establish the Rush lead at 2-1.

Winston Day Chief built a two-goal cushion for the Rush at the 15:08 mark of the final period of regulation. On an odd-man rush, Patrick Cullen, Kevin Harvey, and the Rush Captain set up a tic-tac-toe passing play, with Day Chief finishing past Rumpel to double the Rush lead to two tallies at 3-1 with 4:52 left in the game. Allen fired back on their third power play shortly after, with Spencer Asuchak deflecting a Tyler Ludwig shot from the blue-line to bring the Americans within striking distance at 3-2 with 3:19 left in the game. Dylan Clarke iced it at 4-2 with his empty-net goal with 26.7 seconds left, facing some unnecessary scuffling initiated by the Americans after the play. The home side agitated further with the game out of reach, racking up 17 of the final 19 penalty minutes assessed in the game, and despite the uncalled for physicality late in the contest, the Rush took their 4-2 win to the locker room with a 1-0 Central Division Finals lead.

Danny Battochio was stalwart, stopping 36 of 38 shots on net (5-3-0).

Game 2 is slated for tomorrow night at the Allen Events Center, with puck drop coming at 6:05 p.m. MST.

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