(WICHITA, KS) – Ralph Cuddemi and Mark MacMillan struck twice in the second period, and coupled with Stuart Skinner’s 30 saves, powered the Wichita Thunder to a 2-0 win over the Rush on Sunday night. The win marks a sweep for the Thunder over the Rush in this “three-in-three played in Wichita this weekend.
Both teams skated to a scoreless deadlock after one period of play, but the Thunder, once again with the help of special teams, struck first for a third consecutive night on the weekend and took a 2-0 lead in the middle frame, and it was all they would need for the sweep of the Rush. Scoring first on Wichita’s second power play of the game was Ralph Cuddemi to get the Thunder on the board. With 7:37 gone by in the second, Steven Iacobellis found his captain, Dyson Stevenson in the slot. Somehow, Stevenson sent a rolling puck on edge right to Cuddemi’s tape, and on the backdoor, Cuddemi buried the shot by Rush net-minder Tyler Parks to put the Thunder up 1-0 (Stevenson and Iacobellis assisted). Mark MacMillan then doubled the Thunder lead when he deflected a Keoni Texiera shot by Parks to make it 2-0 with 6:44 left in the second (Texiera and Cuddemi assisted). Stuart Skinner, in net for the Thunder, was perfect throughout the 60 minutes, stopping 8 shots in the first, 12 in the second, and 10 in the third for a 30-save shutout, handing the Rush a sweep of the weekend series with a 2-0 win and his second shutout of the season.
Tyler Parks, appearing for a second time in the weekend and starting for the first time since the home-opener on October 20th, played admirably for the Rush, stopping 32 of 34 shots in the defeat (0-3-0-0).
The Rush now begin their second week of their 8-game-in-12-night road trip, traveling to West Valley City, Utah to take on the Utah Grizzlies. Puck drop for the first in the three-game series is slated for 7:05 p.m. MST at the Maverik Center on Wednesday, December 12th.
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