MONTMINY’S SECOND PERIOD PAIR LIFTS RUSH TO WIN

(RAPID CITY, SD) – Cedric Montminy struck twice in the second period, and Tyler Parks stood tall in net late, helping the Rapid City Rush to a crucial 2-1 regulation win over the Wichita Thunder on Friday night.  The game marked the first of a pair of matchups this weekend, and marked back-to-back wins in net for Parks. 

Both teams skated to a scoreless deadlock after 20 minutes, with Tyler Parks stopping all 8 shots he saw for the Rush, and Ty Rimmer stopping all 11 shots he saw for Wichita.  The deadlock broke when Cedric Montminy pocketed his first of two in the frame, giving the Rush their only lead of the game.  With 10:49 left in the second, Montminy slammed a one-timer from Tyler Poulsen and had his shot initially stopped, but batted his rebound by Rimmer to give the rush a 1-0 advantage (Poulsen and Pierre-Luc Mercier assisted).  Montminy hit pay dirt again on an incredible coast-to-coast passing play by the Rush to double the team’s lead heading into the final period.  With 4:00 remaining in the frame, Josh Elmes fired a saucer pass from behind his net to Poulsen, who entered the neutral zone and evaded an oncoming assailant.  He found Mercier, who entered in the zone two-on-one with Montminy, ending with Montminy finish into an open net to give the Rush a 2-0 lead (Mercier and Poulsen assisted).

The Rush staved off Wichita until a late power play was awarded to the team for a bench minor against the backup for the Rush, Adam Carlson.  With 90 seconds left, with the power play and extra-attacker for a 6-on-4 advantage, Taylor Cammarata blasted a one-timer on a Jeremy Beaudry pass by Parks to halve the deficit to 2-1 (Beaudry and Stefan Fournier assisted).  Things got tense with 1.8 seconds left, as Parks was somehow assessed a delay of game minor purposefully dislodging the net as the puck left the Rush zone.  Cammarata took the shot on Parks and was denied, leading the Rush to a big 2-1 win. 

Tyler Parks stopped all but one of 20 shots on net, earning a second straight win in as many starts (4-5-2-0).  Parks also has points in four consecutive appearances, going 2-0-2-0 in that span.

The Rush conclude their pair of games against the Wichita Thunder tomorrow on Saturday, February 9th.  Puck drop at Premier Home Mortgage Ice in Rushmore Plaza Civic Center is slated for 7:05 p.m. MST.

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