Daniil Chechelev made a season-high 38 saves on 41 shots and Jon Martin scored but the Rush were beaten by the Idaho Steelheads 4-1, Friday night at Idaho Central Arena.
Rapid City got the scoring started in the first period as Martin glided through the neutral zone. He went give-and-go with Rory Kerins and eventually fired a wrist shot from the top of the right circle. The puck flew through traffic and beat Jake Kupsky on the top shelf to give the Rush the lead.
Idaho answered in the final minute of the first period when Ty Pelton-Byce left a drop pass for the trailing Patrick Kudla. Kudla flicked a wrist shot on net that snuck past Chechelev’s glove to tie the game at one.
The game remained tied until the third period, when the Steelheads charged through the neutral zone. Jack Becker slid a pass to Ty Pelton-Byce who snapped the puck towards Janis Svanenbergs charging toward the net. Svanenbergs chipped it past the lunging Chechelev and the Steelheads took a 2-1 lead.
In the final minutes, just after a Rapid City power play expired, Becker sped into the attacking end and fired a shot that Chechelev stopped. Jade Miller pounced on the rebound and slammed it past Chechelev, extending the Idaho lead to 3-1.
The Rush were then granted a power play and pulled Chechelev for an extra attacker but a neutral zone turnover led to Zach Walker striding in on an empty net. He flipped it into the Rapid City goal and Idaho pushed the score to its 4-1 final.
Chechelev made 38 saves on 41 shots and Kerins now has points in five of the Rush’s six games but the Rush dropped their third consecutive game and fell to 2-4-0-0. Idaho improved to 5-1-0-0 with the win. The Rush and Steelheads will meet again on Saturday night in Boise. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. at Idaho Central Arena.
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