RUSH FALL IN OVERTIME IN COLORADO

(LOVELAND, CO) – Winston Day Chief notched a goal and an assist, and Taylor Doherty tied a back-and-forth affair with just over five minutes remaining, but Adrian Veideman helped the Colorado Eagles earn the second point in overtime as the Rapid City Rush fell by a 4-3 score on Saturday night.

In his return to the lineup, Cody Ferriero afforded the Rush a lead just over five minutes into the contest. Winston Day Chief recovered a bouncing puck in neutral ice and found Brett Kostolansky, who upon waltzing into the Eagles zone found Ferriero cross-ice in the near face-off dot. Ferriero’s snipe beat Eagles goaltender Clarke Saunders and put the Rush up 1-0 with 5:03 gone by in the first (Kostolansky and Day Chief earned the assists).

Colorado kicked things into gear at the start of the second period and evened things up just seconds into the frame. With half a minute gone by, Jake Marto carried the puck into the Rush zone with speed and ripped a shot by Rush net-minder Danny Battochio to tie the game at 1-1 (Everett Sheen and Ludwig Karlsson recorded the assists). Eagles captain Trent Daavettila pushed his team ahead roughly 10 minutes later, finishing a quick pass from Kyle Ostrow after the Eagles sustained pressure in the offensive zone for a long series of plays. Battochio almost got his post for the stop, but Daavettila’s strike got by him and gave the Eagles a 2-1 lead 10:10 remaining in the second (Ostrow and Kyle Kraemer got the assists). From one captain to another, the Rush answered back within the final minutes of the frame to send the rivals into the third period all-square at 2-2. Winston Day Chief was in front of Saunders’ net and rifled a rebound into the cage to even things up with 2:19 left in the second (Michael Young and Brian O’Rourke recorded the assists).

Colorado made quick work of the tie score once again to start the third period, this time with Kyle Kraemer finishing a passing play from the high slot on a series of passes from behind the net that beat Battochio up high. The goal afforded the Eagles a 3-2 lead with 19:06 left in the game (Kyle Ostrow recorded his second assist while Trent Daavettila earned his second point with his first of the game). With just over five minutes to play, the Eagles saw both Everett Sheen and Colin Joe go to the penalty box 28 seconds apart, leading to an all-important five-on-three power play for the Rush. The visitors prospered as Taylor Doherty finished passes from Cody Ferriero and Sean Erickson to beat Saunders from the blue line, tying the game at 3-3 with 5:11 left in the game, prompting the use of overtime to determine a winner at the end of regulation.

Chris Ciotti was called for boarding just 65 seconds into the overtime session, giving the Eagles a four-on-three power play for the majority of the remainder of overtime. Adrian Veideman scored on a one-timer 45 seconds later to give Colorado the second point in what became a 4-3 win over the Rush (Trent Daavettila recorded his second assist and his third point in the contest, while Collin Bowman provided the final assist).

Danny Battochio stopped 31 of 35 shots in what became his second defeat in overtime this season (8-5-2). The point gained in the overtime loss allows the Rush to maintain their lead in the Crystal Cup Standings through four games, now at 5 points to Colorado’s 4.

Both teams rematch less than 24 hours removed from this contest in Premier Home Mortgage Ice in Rushmore Plaza Civic Center tomorrow afternoon. Puck drop is slated for 4:05 p.m. MST.

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