MISIAKS POWER PLAY GOAL WINS IT FOR RUSH

(BOISE, ID) – Logan Nelson twice tied the game for the Rapid City Rush as part of his three-point night, but Ryan Misiak notched the game-winning power play goal for the Rush, who defeated the Idaho Steelheads 4-3 on Friday night. The win gives both sides a victory through two of three games this week, with a rubber match coming tomorrow night.

The theme of the first period was “call and response”, and because of that, the first ended in a 2-2 tie. Two nights in a row, Rob Linsmayer got things started for Idaho when he slammed a rebound behind Rush net-minder, Adam Morrison, while he was stomach-down on the ice to give the Steelheads a 1-0 lead 3:48 into the game (Jefferson Dahl and Will Merchant notched the assists). The Rush responded toward the midway point when Logan Nelson sent a backhand shot from the far wall of the Idaho zone by Steelheads goaltender, Branden Komm, top-shelf to square the game at 1-1 at the 9:53 mark of the first (Ryan Walters and Ryan Misiak assisted, with the latter extending his point streak to four games and his assist streak to three games). Just 26 seconds later, however, Idaho struck back to take the lead. With 10:19 gone by in the first, a turnover in the Rush zone broke Brian Nugent and Anthony Luciani on a two-on-none break in close range. Nugent deferred to Luciani, who tucked the puck by Morrison to give Idaho a 2-1 lead (Nugent and Kellan Lain assisted). Once again, however, Nelson squared the game up for the Rush to ensure a tie after 20 minutes. Just over two minutes later, from almost the exact same spot, Nelson fired a shot from the far wall of the Steelheads zone that went off of the glove of Komm and in, leveling the game at 2-2 with 7:39 left in the first (Triston Grant and Anthony Collins garnered the assists).

Luciani gave the Steelheads a third lead in the game at the midway point of the second period, but once again it was quickly followed by a Rush strike. Luciani’s second of the game made it 3-2 for Idaho when he went on another close-range odd-man break, and buried an Andre Bouvette-Morrissette by Morrison to push the Steelheads on top with 8:09 left in the second (Bouvette-Morrissette and Travis Walsh assisted). Just 59 seconds later, Logan Nelson facilitated the game tying goal from the near corner, finding Hunter Fejes in the slot. Fejes fired by a screened Komm and squared the game up at 3-3 with 7:10 left in the middle frame (Nelson earned his third point with the assist, while Alex Mikulovich notched his first).

Once again, both teams went into the next frame deadlocked, but the Rush would eventually come out with the only lead they needed to secure the win. On the Rush’s second and final power play of the game, T.J. Sarcona found captain Ryan Walters in the near corner of the Steelheads zone, and Walters found a streaking Ryan Misiak off the blue line on the back door. Misiak blasted Walters’ pass and gave the Rush a 4-3 lead with 12:39 left in the game, and it would be the only lead the Rush needed to get the two points. Idaho pulled Komm from his net to create an extra-attacker scenario, but Morrison and the Rush held on to earn the 4-3 victory.

Morrison, making his 13th consecutive start, stopped 34 of 37 shots in the win (14-14-4).

Both teams meet for a rubber match tomorrow night at 7:10 p.m. MST at CenturyLink Arena. It marks the final time this season that both Mountain Division rivals will meet.

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