SIAVK NETS WINNER IN RETURN TO RUSH

(RAPID CITY, SD) – Peter Sivak broke a 2-2 tie with 13:10 left in the game, notching his first goal since missing seven games two weeks ago to help the Rapid City Rush defeat the Idaho Steelheads by a 4-2 score on Friday night. The win gives the Rush a split of their first two games against Idaho in their three-game series, forcing a rubber match tomorrow night.

Idaho struck first for a second time in this series, with Max French earning his third goal of the week. With 2:55 gone by, French backhanded a shot in the slot through traffic, off of a defender, and squirted over the shoulder of Rush net-minder Christian Frey to give the Steelheads a 1-0 lead (Cole Ully and Charlie Dodero assisted). Over the midway point of the first, Andrew Miller tied the game for the Rush when he backhanded a rebound off of a Pavel Jenys blue line shot by Steelheads goalie Philippe Desrosiers to square the game at 1-1 with 6:34 left in the first (Jenys and Matt Caito assisted).

Both teams entered the second period deadlocked at 1-1, but the Steelheads were guilty of two penalties within the last minute of the first, resulting in a 5-on-3 Rush power play for 66 seconds. With 9 seconds left on the two-man advantage, Dante Salituro put the Rush on top. Just 57 seconds into the second, Salituro blasted a one-time shot on a pass from Jenys to give the Rush a 2-1 lead with his team-leading seventh power play goal of the season (Jenys and Bouramman assisted). Not to be outdone, Steve McParland countered with a power play of his own around five minutes later. With 5:52 gone by in the second, Brady Brassart tried to complete a wrap-around shot on Frey that was originally turned aside, which caused chaos in front of the Rush net with bodies crashing for the loose puck. McParland took advantage of the chaos, and fired a shot towards the far post that beat Frey to tie the game at 2-2 (Brassart and Will Merchant assisted).

Andrew Miller had everyone fooled when his wrist shot shy of the midway point in the third period rang off the pipe, but shortly after, Peter Sivak, playing in his first game after missing seven mourning the loss of his father, fired a no-doubter that powered the Rush to the win. With 13:10 left in the game, Sivak carried a Kenton Miller pass into the attacking zone and rifled a shot over the shoulder of Desrosiers to give the Rush a 3-2 lead (Miller and Riley Weselowski assisted). Desrosiers was pulled from his net in the waning moments of the game, and Matt Caito sealed the deal when he fired a nearly 200-foot shot into an empty net to give the Rush an eventual 4-2, earning a split in the first two games of this three-game series.

Christian Frey earned his third win as a professional, stopping 23 of 25 shots in the victory (3-9-2).

Both teams will square off in a rubber match tomorrow night on February 24th, with puck drop slated for 7:05 p.m. at Premier Home Mortgage Ice in Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.

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