SHOLL BLANKS RUSH ON 23 SHOTS

(RAPID CITY, SD) – Brad McClure scored twice and Tomas Sholl stopped all 23 shots he saw as the Idaho Steelheads defeated the Rapid City Rush with a 3-0 win on Wednesday night.  The game continues a stretch of six consecutive matchups between the division rivals, with the final three to be played in Rapid City and tonight’s contest serving as the fourth matchup of the series.

Both teams were about thirty seconds away from a scoreless deadlock after 20 minutes of play, but Brad McClure barely got the Steelheads on the board before the locker room session.  With 31.7 seconds remaining in the period, A.J. White crossed the blue line and fired a shot on Rush net-minder Adam Carlson that was stopped with his glove, but produced a big rebound.  Carlson came out to poke check the puck away from oncoming Steelheads, but instead it came to McClure, who fired it into the empty-net to give Idaho their 1-0 lead (the goal was unassisted).  Tomas Sholl, in net for Idaho, stopped all 4 shots he saw in the period.

Kale Kessy doubled the Steelheads lead with his first goal of the season on Idaho’s second power play of the game.  With 9 seconds left in the advantage, and 7:31 played in the second, Kessy deflected a Jeff King shot over Carlson to make it a 2-0 lead (King had the lone assist).  Sholl again stood tall for Idaho, stopping all 12 shots he faced in the frame.

Under a minute into the third, McClure struck again to triple the Steelheads lead, eventually bringing the game to its final score.  Just 40 seconds into the period, Kyle Schemmp entered the Rush zone and deferred to Steve McParland, who had a pair of attempts on Carlson denied, but McClure pocketed the rebound to make it a 3-0 Steelheads advantage (McParland and Schempp assisted).  Sholl stopped the remaining 7 shots he saw to claim his fifth career shutout, and his second against the Rush in the last two years with a 3-0 win on 23 saves.

Adam Carlson suffered the loss, stopping 28 of 31 shots on his net (4-3-2-0).

The Rush continue their stretch of six consecutive matchups against the Idaho Steelheads, with game five of the series, and the second in Rapid City, to be played on Friday, November 23rd at Premier Home Mortgage Ice in Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, with puck drop slated for 7:05 p.m. MST.

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