INDEPENDENCE, Mo. – Daniil Chechelev made 40 saves on 42 shots and Alex Aleardi’s power play goal in the third period put Rapid City on top for good as the Rush beat the Kansas City Mavericks 3-2 on Tuesday night at Cable Dahmer Arena.
After a scoreless first period, Kansas City struck first in the second. The Rush turned the puck over in their own zone and Luke Santerno found Ryan Harrison in front of the net. Harrison put a move on and slid the puck past Chechelev to give Kansas City a 1-0 lead.
Rapid City answered and tied the game in the final minute of the second with a power play goal. Jimmy Soper shoveled a shot on net from the short side that Shane Starrett stopped but Keanu Yamamoto snagged the rebound. He slid a shot between the legs of Starrett and the game was tied at one.
The Rush took their first lead of the game in the opening minute of the third after Logan Nelson passed the puck to Jon Martin from below the goal line in the attacking zone. Martin threw the puck to the front of the net and it deflected off the leg of Mavericks defenseman Tommy Muck and into the net to make the score 2-1.
Kansas City squared things later in the period with Harrison’s second goal of the game. Mathieu Foget carried the puck into the left wing corner and fed Harrison in the slot. He guided a shot past Chechelev to even the score at two.
Rapid City took the lead for good late in the third with a power play strike. In the waning seconds of a man advantage, Charles Martin slid a pass to Aleardi at the point. He uncorked a slap shot that blasted through traffic and beat Starrett high, putting the Rush on top, 3-2.
Aleardi’s goal was his 28th of the season, drawing him level with Matt Marcinew for the team lead and Martin now has three goals in his last two games. The Rush extended their point streak to three games and improved to 31-33-3-0 with the win while Kansas City dropped to 30-29-6-2 in its loss. Rapid City is now two points out of a playoff spot and three points out of second place in the Mountain Division.
The Rush will continue their road trip on Thursday night in Wichita for the first of two games against the Thunder. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at INTRUST Bank Arena.
