RUSH WIN IN SHOOTOUT TO START SERIES AGAINST UTAH

(WEST VALLEY CITY, UT) – Ian Edmondson tied the game with 9:25 left in regulation to eventually force overtime and subsequently a shootout where Avery Peterson won it in the bottom of the sixth round to give the Rapid City Rush a 3-2 win over the Utah Grizzlies on Friday night. The win starts the Rush off on the right foot in their “three-in-three” series this weekend against Utah.

Only one goal was provided between the combatants in the opening frame of the contest, and it belonged to the visiting side. For a second consecutive game, Mike Hedden started thing off for the Rush in the first minutes. With 2:43 played, Cedric Montminy began the scoring sequence by applying pressure behind the Grizzlies net. After Andrew Sturtz laid a massive hit and dislodged the puck, he found Montminy, who then found Hedden open in front of the net to fire a shot past Utah goalie Evan Buitenhuis, giving the Rush a 1-0 lead (Montminy and Sturtz assisted).

A penalty-ridden second period brought the Grizzlies right back into the game, and eventually put them in a position to overtake the Rush. On their fourth and final power play of the game, Braylon Shmyr tied the game up when his left-wing wall shot was deflected off a body by Rush net-minder Adam Carlson to square the game at 1-1 with 5:37 left in the second period (Hunter Skinner and Cedric Pare assisted). Exactly 28 seconds later, Jack Jenkins slipped behind the Rush defense and went on a break uncontested from inside the Rush blue line towards the net. He fired a shot by Carlson to give the Grizzlies their only lead of the game at 2-1 with 5:09 remaining (Diego Cuglietta and Trey Bradley assisted).

Ian Edmondson picked the perfect time to score his first goal in a Rush uniform, because it eventually forced the game’s extra-curricular activity. With 9:25 left in the game, Hunter Garlent facilitated a rush up the ice and deferred to Peter Quenneville. Quenneville then dropped the puck back to a charging Edmondson, who fired a shot that beat Buitenhuis to square the game at 2-2 (Quenneville and Garlent assisted). Cedric Montminy had a chance late to win the game in 60 minutes for the Rush, but was denied, and to overtime the teams went.

An extra seven minutes of three-on-three hockey was not enough to decide a winner, so for the first time this season, the Rush played in a shootout finish. After Utah’s Hunter Skinner scored in the top of the first round, Peter Quenneville tied things up for Rapid City in the bottom of the second round. Cedric Montminy was denied by the glove-side post of Buitenhuis, prompting the need for sudden death shootout rounds. It went all the way to the bottom of round six, where Avery Peterson five-holed Buitenhuis to secure a 3-2 shootout win for the Rush to start their three-game series.

Adam Carlson won his third straight start dating back to January 6th, stopping 41 of 43 shots in 67 minutes of hockey, and all but one of six Utah shooters in the shootout (4-4-0-0).

The Rush continue their seven-game road trip over the next two weeks, and their “three-in-three” series against the Utah Grizzlies. Puck drop for tomorrow night’s rematch on February 20th is slated for 7:10 p.m. MDT, while Sunday’s matinee finale is 1:10 p.m. MDT at the Maverik Center.

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