(FORT WAYNE, IN) – Richard Coyne scored his first ECHL goal to level the game and force an eventual shootout, but it was Tyler Parks who stole the show in net by stopping all but one of 51 shots in 65 minutes to power the Rapid City Rush to a 2-1 win over the Fort Wayne Komets on Saturday night. The win gives the Rush a 2-2-2-0 record on the annual “Stock Show Road Trip”, with Parks claiming points in all three of his starts (1-0-2-0).
The Komets provided the only goal of the opening period, and carried the lead into the intermission. Marc-Olivier Roy put Fort Wayne on the board when he deflected an Anthony Petruzzelli pass down the slot past Rush net-minder Tyler Parks to give the Komets a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes (Petruzzelli and Trey Phillips assisted).
Both teams skated to a scoreless deadlock in the second period, but the Rush clawed back with a tying goal in the third period to eventually force the extra-curricular activity. With 13:12 left in the game, Richard Coyne came out of the penalty box following a Rush penalty kill, and took a pass from Cedric Montminy in neutral ice. Coyne had options on the rush, but decided to shoot and rifled it off the bar and in past Komets goalie Eric Levine, squaring the game at 1-1 for his first career ECHL goal (Montminy had the lone assist). Both Levine and Parks both stood tall in the remainder of regulation, forcing overtime for a fourth time on the trip for the Rush.
The Rush were outshot 8-2 in overtime, but Parks maintained his stellar play to keep the game level. Darby Llewellyn had a chance to end it in overtime with over a minute to go, but couldn’t finish on the sequence. For a second time on the road trip, the Rush went to a shootout.
After Shawn Szydlowski missed the net in the top of the first round, Justin Faryna put the Rush up 1-0 with a laser, going 2/2 on the season in shootouts. J.C. Campagna answered in the top of the second for Fort Wayne, but was immediately answered by Pierre-Luc Mercier in the bottom of the second to put the Rush in the driver’s seat. Brady Shaw was denied by Tyler Parks on the goal line in the top of the final round, giving the Rush a 2-1 win to end the “Stock Show Road Trip”.
Tyler Parks was masterful in net for the Rush, stopping all but 51 shots in 65 minutes, and two of three shooters in the shootout (3-5-2-0).
The Rush now head back home for a pair of games against the Wichita Thunder on Friday, February 8th and Saturday, February 9th. Puck drop for both games at Premier Home Mortgage Ice in Rushmore Plaza Civic Center is slated for 7:05 p.m. MST.
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