FUEL WIN REMATCH IN “STOCK SHOW ROAD TRIP” FINALE

(INDIANAPOLIS, IN) – Avery Peterson scored twice and Peter Quenneville assisted all three of his team’s goals, but a pair of power play goals for the Indy Fuel sealed the fate of the Rapid City Rush with a 6-3 final score on Saturday night. The game marks the end of the “Stock Show Road Trip”, in which the Rush went 3-3-0-0 in six games over nine nights in three cities.

Avery Peterson got the Rush on the board at the end of the first period, but was immediately answered in the blink of an eye to carry a deadlock into the locker room. With 2:03 left in the first period, Peterson took a cross ice pass from Peter Quenneville that was deflected to him by Garrett Klotz, and rifled a shot from the far wall over the glove of Indy goaltender Dan Bakala to give the Rush a 1-0 lead (Klotz and Quenneville assisted). However, exactly 12 seconds later, Nick Hutchison tied the game when Peter Krieger dug the puck out from the near corner and centered it to him in the slot. Hutchison’s shot slipped past Rush net-minder Dave Tendeck and squared the game at 1-1 with 1:51 left in the first (Krieger and Mathew Thompson assisted).

Indy continued with their quick strike offense, scoring twice in the first 90 seconds of the middle frame. Just 64 seconds in, Krieger finished an Indy break down the ice with a laser off the post and in, giving the Fuel their first lead of the weekend at 2-1 (Thompson and Scott Savage assisted). Exactly 20 seconds later, Krieger and Thompson connected on a two-on-one in the Rush zone, created on a neutral zone turnover. With 84 seconds gone by, Krieger deferred to Thompson, who fired one off the glove of Tendeck an in to extend the Fuel’s lead to 3-1 (Krieger amd Nick Hutchison assisted).  Undeterred, the Rush fired right back with a pair of power play goals to level the game after 40 minutes. On the first power play of the game for the Rush, Avery Peterson collected a drop pass from Ian Edmondson and rifled a one-timer past Bakala from the near wall to cut the deficit to 3-2 with 4:28 gone by in the second (Edmondson and Quenneville assisted). Moments later on the front-end of a double-minor power play, Tyler Coulter slipped a shot from the bottom of the right wing circle past Bakala to square the game at 3-3 with 3:15 left in the second period (Quenneville and Kevin Spinozzi assisted).

The Fuel roared back with a pair of their own power play goals to separate from the Rush and earn the win in the final period. Just 46 seconds into the frame, utilizing a carry over of a power play from the end of the second, Nic Pierog collected a cross-ice pass from Peter Krieger, settled it down, and fired a shot off the back bar past Tendeck to put Indy back on top at 4-3 (Krieger and Texiera assisted). With 6:30 left in the game on another power play, Mike McNicholas unloaded a one-time shot off a Cliff Watson pass through Tendeck and in to double Indy’s advantage to 5-3 (Watson and Matt Marcinew assisted). The Rush tried to pull Tendeck from his net late for an extra-attacker late. In the unluckiest of fashion though, the puck was turned over in neutral ice while Tendeck shot to the bench. He desperately tried to get back, but Pierog’s shot from the redline beat him, and let to the final score of 6-3 with 1:43 left in the game (Texiera assisted).

Dave Tendeck stopped 27 of 33 shots in the defeat (4-7-0-0) and finished the “Stock Show Road Trip” with a 3-2-0-0 record in five starts with a pair of shutout victories.

The Rush now return home for a brief three-game series against the Tulsa Oilers. Puck drop for all three games on Wednesday, February 10th, Friday February 12th, and Saturday, February 13th is slated for 7:05 p.m. MDT at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Ice Arena. Saturday’s finale is “Decades Night”, presented by Vast Broadband. The only promotional night in February, decades from the 1960’s all the way to present day will be represented through fun games, great music, and other interactive activities throughout the night. We encourage all fans to dress appropriately for the occasion.

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