WALKERS FIRST AS PRO OVERSHADOWED BY STEELHEADS WIN

(RAPID CITY, SD) – Jack Walker broke a Philippe Desrosiers shutout in the third period with his first goal as a professional, but the career milestone was overshadowed by a dominating Idaho Steelheads performance of 52 shots on goal and a 6-1 win over the Rapid City Rush on Wednesday night. The loss now extends the Rush losing streak to nine games.

For a tenth consecutive game, the Rush conceded a power play goal, and it gave the Steelheads the opening marker of the contest. With 4:22 left in the first period, Joe Faust notched the man-advantage tally in close range of Rush net-minder Shane Owen, and got a piece of the puck prior to its entry in the net, giving the Steelheads a 1-0 lead (Henrik Samuelsson and Jefferson Dahl assisted). With 1:40 to go, Connor Chatham deflected a Charlie Dodero blue line shot past Owen to give Idaho a 2-0 lead (Dodero and Corey Durocher assisted).

The Steelheads owned the second period with 27 shots on the Rush net, and added another pair of goals to increase their lead through 40 minutes. Daniel Tedesco tripled the Steelheads advantage to 3-0 when, down the middle of the Rush zone, he took a Steven McParland pass from the wing, and ripped a shot by Owen with 7:01 left in the second period (McParland garnered the lone assist). After a goal for the Steelheads was waved off due to a deflection off of a high stick, Jefferson Dahl deflected an Eric Sweetman shot that was a no-doubter past Owen to lift Idaho to a 4-0 advantage after two periods of play (Sweetman and Joe Faust assisted).

Less than two minutes into the third, Henrik Samuelsson was right in front of Owen’s net in prime real estate to pick up the rebound from a Joe Faust shot, easily backhanding the loose change to make the Steelheads advantage jump to a 5-0 count at 1:27 of the third period (Faust earned the lone assist). The lone bright spot in the game for the Rush came at 7:27 of the third period, when Jack Walker ended Philippe Desrosiers shutout with his first goal as a professional hockey player. He squeaked a shot from the left wing wall off of Desrosier and in to cut the deficit to 5-1 (the goal was unassisted). After that, the Steelheads went to their fifth and final power play of the night, and hit pay dirt for the game’s final goal. Just 32 seconds after Walker’s career tally, Steelheads captain Jefferson Dahl notched his second of the night with a shot from the left wing faceoff circle that went off the post and in to give Idaho a 6-1 lead, which ultimately was the game’s final score (Henrik Samuelsson got the lone assist).

Shane Owen, in his home debut, stopped 46 of 52 shots on goal, suffering the defeat (0-4-0 total, 0-2-0 with Rush).

Both teams will rematch Friday night, December 22nd, at Premier Home Mortgage Ice in Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, with puck drop slated for 7:05 p.m. MST.

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