RAPID CITY COMES UP SHORT IN UTAH, 3-2

(WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah.) – Rory Kerins had a goal and an assist, Matt Marcinew scored for the second straight game and Daniil Chechelev made 28 saves but the Utah Grizzlies beat the Rapid City Rush 3-2, Saturday night at Maverik Center.

Utah opened the scoring in the first period while skating with a power play. Ben Tardif found Tarun Fizer loose at the right circle. He snapped a shot past Chechelev on the short side and the Grizzlies took a 1-0 lead.

Rapid City evened things up in the second with a power play strike of its own. Alex Aleardi found Kerins below the goal line and he brought the puck above the goal at the right circle. Kerins spun and fired a shot through Lukas Parik’s short side, evening the score at one.

The Grizzlies took the lead back in the third, again scoring while on a power play. Andrew Nielsen snapped a pass to Zach Tsekos on the back post that he redirected past a lunging Chechelev and into the net, putting Utah ahead. They added one more after Nate Clurman sprung Fizer for a breakaway. He deked from his forehand to his backhand and slid the puck under Chechelev’s pads to make it 3-1.

Later in the third, with the Rush shorthanded, Kerins sprinted to a loose puck and picked it up at center. He gained the zone and found a trailing Marcinew who steered the pass past Parik, cutting the lead to one.

The Rush would eventually pull Chechelev for the extra attacker and mounted chances in the final minutes but could not get the equalizer as they fell, 3-2.

Rapid City moved to 1-1-0-0 in the loss while Utah improved to 1-1-0-0 with its victory. The Rush will now return home for a pair of games against the Kansas City Mavericks on Friday and Saturday. On Friday there will be a rally towel giveaway courtesy of Denny Menholt Auto and a magnet schedule giveaway from Stuart Martin Real Estate. On Saturday the Rush will retire the jersey of longtime defenseman Riley Weselowski before the game. Puck drop for both games against Kansas City is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at The Monument Ice Arena.

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