MARINERS DEFEAT RUSH WITH TWO-GOAL THIRD

(PORTLAND, Maine) – The Rapid City Rush, proud affiliate of the NHL’s Calgary Flames, fell to the Maine Mariners at Cross Insurance Arena on Sunday afternoon, 3-2.

Simon Boyko opened the scoring 17:24 into the first period with his third goal of the weekend. Boyko finished the series with five points for the Rush. 

Maine tied things up on the powerplay in the early second period. Adam Mechura notched his 13^th goal of the year off a rebound from a Gabriel Chicoine shot. Chicoine and Mechura are one-and-two in Mariners points with Alex Kile currently with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Chicoine appeared to score moments after the Mariners tied the game, but the goal was disallowed due to goaltender interference by forward Tyler Drevitch. 

Maine would eventually go on to take the lead less than 90 seconds into the third period with Ryan Mast cashing in on a net-front rebound.

Despite being down in the third period, the Rush scored a powerplay goal of their own 5:32 into the period with Charles Martin getting his third of the season. The goal came with assists from Alex Aleardi and Blake Bennett, Aleardi now has a five-game point streak going into Friday’s game. 

Despite the momentum, after a late penalty, Curtis Hall struck for Maine with less than three minutes left for the second Mariners powerplay goal of the night, which stood as the game winner. 

The Rush are 19-23-2-0 coming home for their second straight five-game homestand. Rapid City wraps up the longest road trip of the season 2-4-0, but is still in the playoff picture.

Rapid City has a jam-packed week of events leading up to a massive weekend against Kansas City. On Tuesday, the women of the Rush square off against Rushmore Thunder hockey moms during the annual Ladies and Laces Fundraiser for the Rushmore Hockey Association. 

On Wednesday, Assistant Coach Peter Drikos and Logan Nelson will be on-hand for the second Coors Light Coach’s Show, hosted by Shipwrecks Bar and Grill. The live show will start a 6 p.m. as the duo cover all things Rush hockey over the last month, as well as Nelson’s recent and upcoming career milestones. 

On Friday, head to Murphy’s Pub and Grill for a chance to meet all five NHL alumni in attendance for Affiliation Night from 4 – 6 p.m. Nate Brown will be on hand for the Nate Brown Show live at Murphy’s as well. 

Saturday, the Rush will host a charity game between Rush and Flames Alumni and local men’s league players. The charity game starts at 1 p.m. After the game, head to The Monument Fine Arts theatre to get your picture taken with the Stanley Cup, starting a 3:30 p.m. At 5 p.m. the Rush will host a live show with all five Flames alumni players. And at 7:05 p.m. the Rush square off against the Kansas City Mavericks. 

Your ticket to Saturday’s game gets you access to everything during the day’s festivities. Skate to rapidcityrush.com to get yours now.