WEST VALLEY CITY, UT – Parker Gahagen stopped all 16 Rapid City Rush shots, and partnered with A.J. White’s power play winner in the second period and Ty Lewis’ empty-netter late, powered the Utah Grizzlies to a 2-0 win over the Rush on Wednesday night. With the loss, the Grizzlies are back in the final playoff position, separated by .001 over the Rush who have 14 games remaining in the 2020-21 ECHL season.
Both teams skated to a scoreless deadlock through almost the entire first half of the game, until a second period power play put the Grizzlies in the driver’s seat. At 6:27 of the second, Trey Bradley fired a shot off the stick of A.J. White that was redirected into Rush net-minder Adam Carlson. Carlson made the initial save, but White pocketed his rebound to push the Grizzlies to a 1-0 lead (Bradley and Ty Lewis assisted). Lewis buried the game with an empty-netter with 26 seconds left in regulation, staving off a Rush third period rally to claim two of two games in this week’s four-game set with a 2-0 victory. Parker Gahagen stopped all 16 shots he saw in the contest: 5 in the first, 4 in the second, and 7 in the third.
Adam Carlson suffered the loss, stopping 32 of 33 Utah shots in the effort (13-10-2-1).
The Rush continue their seven-game road trip, with two games remaining in this week’s set against Utah. Puck drop for the final two games on Friday, May 7th, and Saturday, May 8th, is slated for 7:10 p.m. MDT.
