ALLEN SWEEPS RUSH IN CLOSE MATCHUP

(RAPID CITY, SD) – The line combination of Kenton Miller, Marcus Ortiz, and Alex Guptill combined for 7 points, including all three Rapid City Rush goals, but the stellar performance was overshadowed by another Allen Americans win, this time 5-3 to conclude the Rush’s opening weekend.

The Rush kicked off their rematch by drawing first blood on their first power play goal of the season. With 3:36 gone by in the game, on the first Rush power play of the game, Gustav Bouramman carried the puck in the attacking zone and came within close range of the Allen net. Bouramman deferred to a trailing Alex Guptill in the slot area, and Guptill fired the puck by Allen goaltender Riley Gill off the post and in to give the Rush a 1-0 lead (Bouramman had the lone assist, his first career professional point). Allen countered under two minutes later on a neutral zone turnover. Red-hot forward Zach Pochiro found a loose puck in the neutral third in front of the Rush bench and skated all alone in the Rush zone. He finished with a backhand shot that evaded Rush net-minder Christian Frey to square the game at 1-1 with 5:03 gone by in the first (the goal was unassisted). The Americans took control at the midway point of the period when Dalton Thrower unloaded a shot from the far wall of the Rush zone through traffic that whizzed by a screened Frey, pushing Allen to a 2-1 lead with 10:15 left in the first (Olivier Archambault earned the only assist). Exactly 2:10 later, Archambault earned his first goal of the game when he and Casey Pierro-Zabotel took a blue-line turnover and skated to a two-on-none rush. Pierro-Zabotel flicked the puck ahead to Archambault, who finished to put the Americans up 3-1 with 9:05 left in the period (Pierro-Zabotel assisted).

Kenton Miller brought the Rush within striking distance 30 seconds into the period. Marcus Ortiz started the scoring play on a forecheck in the far corner of the attacking zone, and the puck found its way to Alex Guptill. Guptill came in close range of the net and dished to Miller in the slot, who fired by Gill to bring the Rush within one at 3-2 (Guptill and Ortiz assisted). Allen pulled ahead by two again on a fluke play on the Americans blue line. Michael Sdao nearly collided with a teammate trying to keep an awkwardly bouncing puck in the zone on the blue line, and it ultimately came to Spencer Asuchak. Asuchak fired a “Hail Mary” down the ice to Bryan Moore, who had Jonathan Lessard with him on a two-on-none break. Moore kept it the whole way and fired over Frey’s shoulder to put the Americans up 4-2 with 9:26 left in the second (Asuchak and Dave Makowski assisted). Marcus Ortiz brought the Rush back within one with 6 minutes left in the period after he slammed an Alex Guptill rebound by Gill to make it 4-3 after two periods of play.

Olivier Archambault was the beneficiary of a bounce in a pileup in front of the Rush net. The puck appeared to go off of a player and roll past Frey, and even though the goal lamp didn’t go off, head referee John Sitarski saw the puck trickle in and call it a good goal, giving the Americans a 5-3 lead, which ultimately became the final score.

Christian Frey, making his first professional start, suffered the loss after stopping 32 of 37 shots (0-1-0).

The Rush head to their first road trip of the season next weekend, and will take on the Wichita Thunder. Puck drop for the first of the two game series is slated for 6:05 p.m. MST at INTrust Bank Arena on Saturday, October 21st.

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