RUSH FALL IN ROAD TRIP FINALE TO KANSAS CITY

(INDEPENDENCE, MO) – Peter Quenneville provided the only offense for the Rapid City Rush, who fell at the hands of the Kansas City Mavericks on Saturday night by a final score of 10-1.

The Mavericks scored early and often in the opening 20 minutes, and left the first frame with a 3-0 advantage. Zach Osburn began the scoring entries with his first goal as a professional to get the Mavericks on the board. Just 2:57 into the action, Osburn came off the blue line and rifled a shot from the high slot by Rush net-minder Merrick Madsen, giving Kansas City a 1-0 lead (Michael Parks had the lone assist).  Kevin McKernan doubled the lead, also off of the blue line in similar fashion to Osburn, firing a high slot shot off of the post and in past Madsen to bring the Mavericks advantage to 2-0 at 9:23 of the first (David Dziurzynski and Loren Ulett assisted). Completing the first period scoring entries for the Mavericks was Bryan Lemos, who followed Ryan Van Stralen on a break into the Rush zone. Van Stralen’s shot was denied by Madsen, but Lemos pocketed the loose change and tripled the Mavericks lead to 3-0 with 4:58 left in the opening frame (Van Stralen and Tad Kozun assisted).

Within the first minute of the second period, Peter Quenneville put the Rush on the board, but it would unfortunately serve as the only offense provided by the Rush. Just 58 seconds into the period, Tyler Coulter led Quenneville with a pass on the near wall, and he fired a full windup shot that scorched Mavericks goalie Nick Schnieder, cutting the Rush deficit to 3-1 (Coulter and Myles McGurty assisted).  Following the tally, the Mavericks took over and scored seven unanswered goals over the last two periods of play. At 9:02 of the second period, Ryan Van Stralen appeared to have squeaked the puck under Madsen in close proximity to the net, but there was no goal signal on the ice. After a lengthy review, the officials awarded Van Stralen with a goal, and it gave the Mavericks a 4-1 lead (Kevin McKernan and Tad Kozun assisted).  Shortly after, while the Rush were on their third power play of the game, a turnover caused a shorthanded break for the Mavericks. David Dziurzynski deferred to Bryan Lemos, who came towards Madsen uncontested and finished with a tuck to give Kansas City a 5-1 lead after two (Dziurzynski had the lone assist). Following the conclusion of the frame, Tyler Parks came in net for the Rush, relieving Merrick Madsen after 40 minutes played.

The Mavericks struck five times in the span of 13:59 in the third period, including two goals exchanged 25 seconds apart to complete the scoring entries of the contest. Zach Osburn added a second strike to his stat line at 2:22, and was followed by Neal Goff on an odd-man rush at 10:20 and Loren Ulett 25 seconds later to exacerbate the lead to 8-1 Kansas City. Darian Dziurzynski tucked a puck in close range to make it 9-1 at 12:51, and Tad Kozun on a turnover, unassisted, brought the game to its final score of 10-1with 3:39 remaining in regulation.

Merrick Madsen suffered the loss, stopping 24 of 29 shots in 40:00 of his start (1-2-0-0). Tyler Parks relived Madsen for the final 20 minutes, and surrendered five goals on 16 shots in relief.  The 9-goal loss marks the largest margin of defeat for the Rush in team history, and the 10 goals allowed is also a franchise record.

The Rush now head back home to face the Tulsa Oilers in a three-game series, beginning on Wednesday, November 20th, continuing to Friday, November 22nd, and concluding on Saturday, November 23rd. Puck drop for all three divisional showdowns is slated for 7:05 p.m. MDT at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Ice Arena. 

Tickets for all remaining home games are on sale now! Visit www.rapidcityrush.com to purchase yours today!

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