COLLINS PAIR OF GOALS GIVE RUSH SWEEP

(ALLEN, TX) – Anthony Collins ignited the goal lamp twice, and Adam Morrison made 38 saves as the Rapid City Rush defeated the Allen Americans with a 3-2 win on Sunday afternoon. The win not only gave the Rush a sweep of Allen in the Allen Event Center in three meetings, but also gave the Rush a sweep of their four-game/five-night/three-city road trip over Wichita, Tulsa, and Allen.

The Rush struck first in the opening frame, and it propelled them to a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes of play. Anthony Collins got things started for the Rush when he fired a shot that was stopped by Allen goaltender Jamie Murray, but Murray didn’t notice the puck roll off of his back and freely bounce in the crease. Collins picked up the loose change and gave the Rush a 1-0 lead 13:07 into the contest (Hunter Fejes and Michael Young each assisted, extending their respective point streaks to five games). Allen fired back moments later when Joel Chouinard beat the Rush defense to the puck deep in the Rush zone to negate an icing call. Chouinard backhanded the puck out in front of the Rush net, and it went off of the body of Greger Hanson and behind Rush net-minder, Adam Morrison, to square the game at 1-1 with 5:25 left in the first (Chouinard and Chad Costello assisted). Under a minute later, the Rush countered to take a lead into the intermission when Christian Horn zipped a cross-ice pass to a trailing Mark Cooper from the near corner of the Americans third. Cooper blasted a one-timer by Murray to put the Rush on top 2-1 with 4:41 left in the period (Horn and Hunter Fejes assisted, with the latter earning his second of the night).

Collins struck again in the second to afford the Rush a two-goal advantage after two periods of play. With 7:45 gone by in the second, Alex Mikulovich fired a shot off of an offensive zone faceoff win, and the rebound came to Collins. Collins fired top-shelf over Murray for his second of the game to give the Rush a 3-1 lead heading into the final period (Mikulovich and Austin McKay notched the helpers).

The Americans made a push in the third period, but the Rush held off the rally and hung on for the win. Spencer Asuchak brought the Americans within striking distance when he deflected a Mike Gunn shot from the blue line by Morrison to cut the Rush lead to 3-2 with 15:51 left in the game (Gunn and Greger Hanson assisted, the latter earning his second point of the game). The Rush powered through an extra-attacker scenario when Murray was pulled from Allen’s net in the final two minutes, and hung on for the win, 3-2 after 60 minutes.

Adam Morrison earned his third consecutive win, stopping 38 of 40 in the victory (10-8-4).

The Rush now head back home to begin an eight-game home stand, starting off with their first-ever series against the South Carolina Stingrays. Puck drop for the first game in the series is slated for 7:05 p.m. at Premier Home Mortgage Ice in Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.

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