KANSAS CITY DEFEATS RUSH IN FRIDAY TILT

(RAPID CITY, S.D.) – The Rapid City Rush, proud affiliate of the NHL’s Calgary Flames, fell to the Kansas City Mavericks 7-1 on Friday night at The Monument. 

Justin Nachbaur opened the scoring for the Mavericks with his ninth goal of the season. Despite outshooting the Mavericks 15-11 in the first period, the Rush could not beat Jack LaFontaine who turned out 39 of 40 in the win.

The lone goal LaFontaine allowed came from rookie Simon Boyko who extended his goal-scoring streak to four games off an assist from Logan Nelson. Nelson has now scored a point in seven straight games for the Rush.

Unfortunately, Rapid City had no more offense to muster. Patrick Curry scored back-to-back goals to give the Mavericks a 3-1 lead and then Nolan Walker tallied his 21^st goal of the season to extend Kansas City’s lead to three. 

In the third period, the scoring onslaught continued with goals from Jeremy McKenna, Kyle Jackson, and Jacob Hayhurst.

The six-goal margin marks the worst defeat of the season for the Rush, who fall to 1-4-1 against Kansas City this season. Rapid City plays the Mavericks three more times this year. 

After an Allen Americans victory over Tulsa, the Rush are now three points out of the Mountain Division’s final playoff spot. The Rush play against teams currently in the league’s top-five teams in their next seven straight games. 

Rapid City celebrates Affiliation Night tomorrow with a full day of hockey and fun. At 1 p.m. Calgary Flames and Rapid City Rush alumni team up to face local men’s leaguers in a charity game. Following the game, the Stanley Cup, the greatest trophy in all of sports, will be on display for photos starting at 3:30 p.m. After the Stanley Cup showing, join the Rush in The Monument Fine Arts Theatre for a live show featuring all five Calgary Flames alumni players. 

Your ticket to the Rush game gets you access to every event going on in conjunction with Affiliation Night. 

The Rush join the Flames in celebrating the 35^th anniversary of the 1989 Stanley Cup championship team, with Joel Otto and Tim Hunter in attendance representing the championship winners. 

Rapid City squares off with Kansas City to close the weekend at 7:05 p.m. tomorrow night.