RAPID CITY, S.D. – Calder Brooks scored twice, Alec Butcher and Logan Nelson each had a goal and two assists and the Rapid City Rush netted four power play goals en route to a 5-2 win over the Kansas City Mavericks, Saturday night at The Monument Ice Arena.
Rapid City opened the scoring 1:16 into the first period when Stephen Baylis fired home a wrist shot from the left circle. On Teddy Bear Toss night, Baylis’ 14th goal of the season made it rain stuffed animals and the Rush took a 1-0 lead.
They added to that lead later in the first while on a power play as Ryan Valentini took a pass at the right circle and slid the puck to the front of the net where Brooks had inside position. He poked it underneath Danil Chechelev and the score was 2-0.
Seven minutes later, again with the Rush on the power play, Butcher stickhandled his way through center and hit Chase Harrison on the left wing. Harrison fired a pass to the back door where Nelson tapped it in to make it 3-0.
Kansas City got one back in the final two minutes of the first when Ben Johnson cashed in after a defensive zone turnover. But the Rush struck again in the opening minutes of the second period when Valentini hit Max Coatta in front of the net who found Brooks on the back door with an open net to shoot at. Brooks hit paydirt for another power play goal, putting the Rush on top, 4-1.
Rapid City got one more tally with the man advantage at the end of the second period after Tristan Thompson took a slap shot from the blue line that Butcher deflected in the slot. It bounced past Chechelev and the Rush lead grew to 5-1.
The Mavericks tallied a shorthanded goal in the third period to push the score to its 5-2 final but could not mount much more pressure and the Rush cruised to their second-straight win.
Nelson and Butcher each had a goal and two assists, Brooks scored twice and David Tendeck made 34 saves in net. Rapid City improved to 10-10-1-2 in the win while Kansas City fell to 8-11-1-0. The Rush will now hit the road for Boise and three games next week against the Idaho Steelheads. That stretch begins on Wednesday night and puck drop is scheduled for 7:10 PM at Idaho Central Arena.
