RUSH VS MALLARDS - 10/22

GAME NOTES

Rapid City Rush vs. Quad City Mallards

Regular Season Game #4-October 22, 2016

Where We Left Off: Mallards Edge the Rush – Lindsay Sparks cashed in on the power play and rookie Hunter Fejes scored for a third straight game, but the Quad City Mallards struck twice on the power play and got some love from the iron in the third period as they handed the Rapid City Rush their third straight loss with a 3-2 win on Friday night in Premier Home Mortgage Ice in Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Quad City jumped on the board first last in the opening frame on their second power play of the game. With 1:24 left in the first, Jace Coyle fired a one-timer from the point by rookie Rush net-minder Austin Lotz to put the Mallards up 1-0 heading into the second (Mike Monfredo and Brady Brassart earned the assists). Lindsay Sparks evened things up just shy of the midway point in the second period. With 7:08 gone by, the Rush were on an abbreviated power play following a bout of four-on-four hockey. Garrett Haar fired a shot from the high slot that was originally stopped by Mallards goaltender Adam Vay, but Sparks slammed the rebound home and tied things at 1-1 with his second goal of the season, both of which came on the power play (Haar and Ryan Walters assisted). Over four minutes later, however, Quad City received another jolt from their power play. With 8:43 left in the second, Sam Warning was all alone in between the faceoff circles of the Rush zone and one-timed a Justin Kovacs shot by Lotz to push the Mallards to a 2-1 lead heading into the final period (Kovacs and Coyle assisted, with Coyle earning his second point with the helper). Hunter Fejes continued his electric start with the Rush and tied the game up within the first minute of the third. Exactly 32 seconds into the final period, Anthony Mastrodicasa sent a pass to Fejes, who turned on the jets and warded off his attacker and headed to the low slot. He set the puck to his forehand and flipped it by Vay to even things up at 2-2 (Mastrodicasa garnered the lone assist). The tie would last around ten minutes and end when Pavel Jenys provided the game-winner. With 8:19 left in the game, Jenys sent a shot from down low off the far post and behind Lotz to give the Mallards a 3-2 lead. The Rush had one last chance to tie things up on a power play with under two minutes left in the game, and even pulled Lotz for an extra-attacker and a 6-on-4 advantage. Vay and the Mallards penalty kill hung tough, and earned their first win by a 3-2 score.

Lotz of Heart – Last night’s contest against the Mallards marked the professional debut of Tucson (AHL) contracted goaltender Austin Lotz. The St. Adolphe, Manitoba native made 44 stops on 47 shots faced, unfortunately suffering the defeat despite a stellar performance. His 44 saves in his Rush debut is now a franchise record, beating the previous total set by former Rush goaltender Marek Langhamer last season against the defending champion Allen Americans (42 saves). Additionally, the 47 shots he faced is good for the second-highest shot total faced in a Rush debut, behind the 49 that Langhamer saw in his debut.

On a Tear – Last night marked the third game in which Rush rookie Hunter Fejes ignited the goal lamp and put his team in a solid position on the scoreboard. Not only did his third goal 32 seconds into the third period give every fan in the building free Subway as part of the “Minute of Madness” promotion, but it also marked the third consecutive game in which the rookie has scored, now putting him one game shy of tying the Rush franchise record for longest rookie goal-scoring streak. Cody Ferriero set the record in the 2014-15 season, and was quickly followed by Mark Miller in the waning moments of the season last year in the 2015-16 campaign.

Special Teams – After starting off the season with an 0/4 performance on the power play, the Rush have now cashed in on the man-advantage in back-to-back games, scoring 3 power play goals in their last 7 tries.

WE’RE GOING STREAKING! – Only two players come into tonight’s rematch with the Mallards with statistical streaks on the line:

· Lindsay Sparks – has points in his last three games (2g-2a-4pts)

· Hunter Fejes – has goals and points in his last three games (3g-0a-3pts)