WICHITA TAKES GAME ONE OF WEEKEND PAIR

(RAPID CITY, SD) – Cedric Montminy squared things up at the end of the second period, but Anthony Beauregard’s power play tally in the first minute of the final period was just enough to let the Wichita Thunder slip by the Rapid City Rush, 3-1, on Friday night. The game kicked off a pair of matchups between the two longtime rivals.

Both teams skated through a scoreless first 20 minutes before trading blows in the middle frame. Wichita started the scoring entries at 8:00 of period two when Brayden Watts collected a Jacob Graves pass and slammed a net-front one timer past Rush net-minder Adam Carlson, pushing the Thunder to a 1-0 lead (Graves and Spencer Dorowicz assisted). However, in the final five minutes, the Rush drew the game back to level heading into the locker room. With 4:30 left in the frame, Cedric Montminy was the beneficiary of a rebound in a chaotic net front sequence, potting the loose puck past Wichita goalie Evan Buitenhuis to square the game at 1-1 (Andrew Sturtz and Hunter Garlent assisted).

At the end of the second period, Gabriel Chabot was called for a slashing penalty, putting Wichita on the power play for the first two minutes of the third period. They only needed 37 seconds, as Anthony Beauregard rifled a shot from the right wing wall past a screened Carlson to lift Wichita to a 2-1 lead (Dean Stewart and Stefan Fournier assisted). The Rush had multiple chances to square the game up again late, including pulling Carlson for the extra-attacker in the final 1:15, but Jay Dickman sealed the Thunder win with an empty netter with 20 seconds remaining to give Wichita a 3-1 win.

Adam Carlson stopped 36 of 38 shots in the defeat (11-7-1-1).

The Rush conclude their brief stay at home tomorrow night in a rematch against the Wichita Thunder. Puck drop for the finale is slated for 7:05 p.m. MDT at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Ice Arena.

Tomorrow night’s game is our first-ever “Rush Gives Back Night”, in conjunction with our annual Teddy Bear Toss! EVERY SEAT IN THE ARENA is $25, with $5 of each sale going into a pot. That pot will then be distributed amongst four local Black Hills area non-profit organizations: Boys and Girls Club, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), Fork Real Café, and Special Olympics South Dakota. Our proud partner, Black Hills Energy, has pledged to match up to $10,000 of that pot for donation! Teddy Bears from the toss will be donated to three additional groups as well: CASA, Rural America Initiatives, and Youth and Family Services.

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