RUSH COME BACK TO BEAT MAVERICKS IN OVERTIME

(INDEPENDENCE, MO) – Peter Quenneville tied the game with 16.4 seconds remaining on his 100th career goal and set the table for Avery Peterson to complete the Rapid City Rush comeback in overtime, defeating the Kansas City Mavericks by a 4-3 score on Tuesday night. The win gives the Rush a 2-2-0-0 record through four of six games to be played on the annual “Stock Show Road Trip”.

For the second time on the “Stock Show Road Trip”, the Rush both provided the first goal of the game and left the opening frame on top. With 5:44 left in the first period, Tyson Empey pursued the puck on a relentless forecheck, shrugged off a defender, and found a trailing Tyler Coulter. Coulter rifled a shot over the shoulder of Mavericks goalie Matt Greenfield to give the Rush a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes (Empey had the lone assist).

Kansas City came back in the second period with three tallies, but the Rush also notched one of their own to leave the second frame down by only one. Just 2:14 into the period, Rob Bordson snuck behind the Rush defense and collected a “Hail Mary” pass from Brodie Reid in neutral ice. Bordson went into the Rush zone uncontested on a breakaway, and out-deked Rush net-minder Dave Tendeck, finishing with a back-hand to square the game at 1-1 (Reid had the lone assist). The Mavericks then scored again to take their first lead of the game on a great effort from Giorgio Estephan in the high slot. With 8:25 remaining, Estephan fought off a Rush defender between the hashmarks, stepped in towards the Rush net, and fired a backhander off the back bar past Tendeck to put the Mavericks on top at 2-1 (Kamerin Nault and Brodie Reid assisted).  Both teams then traded blows with their respective power plays. Tyler Coulter earned his second goal of the game when he deflected a Kevin Spinozzi blue line shot past Greenfield to tie the game back up at 2-2 with 2:54 left in the second (Spinozzi and Andrew Sturtz assisted). However, with 41 seconds remaining, Kansas City counterpunched when Rob Bordson deflected a Giorgio Estephan pass through Tendeck and in the net for his second of the night, pushing the Mavericks back on top with a 3-2 lead (Estephan and Reid assisted).

For almost the entirety of the third period, the Rush couldn’t break Greenfield’s goal line, until the team pulled Dave Tendeck for the extra attacker late. Peter Quenneville, entering the game with 99 career goals, deflected a Charlie Curti shot past Greenfield with 16.4 seconds remaining to square the game at 3-3, scoring his 100th career professional goal in the process (Curti and Tyler Coulter assisted). Both teams couldn’t sneak in a goal before the buzzer, and to overtime they went.

Dave Tendeck made two colossal saves in net for the Rush in the early stages of overtime and set the table for Avery Peterson’s game-winner. With 2:59 remaining in the free period of hockey, Kevin Spinozzi dropped the puck to Peterson in the neutral zone, with the latter carrying it into the Mavericks third. Peterson weaved to the left wing side and fired a laser of a wrist shot past Greenfield to give the Rush the second point and the win, 4-3 in overtime.

Dave Tendeck stopped 29 of 32 shots on net in 62:56 of hockey (3-6-0-0).

The Rush continue their annual “Stock Show Road Trip”, which takes them through three cities for six games over the nine nights. The next stop is Indianapolis, Indiana for the final leg of the trip against the ECHL’s #1 team, the Indy Fuel. Both Friday and Saturday’s showdowns on February 5th and 6th are slated for 5:05 p.m. MDT at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.

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