RAPID CITY, S.D. – Zach Court and Rory Kerins each scored, Adam Carlson made 28 saves and the Rapid City Rush beat the Idaho Steelheads 2-1 on Wednesday night at The Monument Ice Arena. The Rush extended their point streak to six games and pulled themselves into a three-way tie for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Mountain Division.
Rapid City started the scoring early in the first period when Colton Leiter stretched a pass up the right wing boards for Jon Martin. Martin hit Court who gained the zone with a two-on-one chance. He snapped a shot to the far post that beat Adam Scheel and put the Rush on top.
Idaho evened things in the second after a Rapid City shot went wide and bounced into the neutral zone. Ty Pelton-Byce grabbed it and gained the zone with Wade Murphy on his left. He hit Murphy for a one-timer that got past Carlson, tying the game at one.
In the third period, shortly after a successful four-minute penalty kill, Carter Robertson came bursting out of the defensive zone and sped through center ice. He gained the zone, drew defenders to him and left a pass for Kerins on the left circle. Kerins darted a wrist shot past Scheel’s glove, giving the Rush the 2-1 lead.
Idaho pulled Scheel for an extra attacker in the final minutes but could not solve Carlson again. He made nine saves in the third period and finished with 28 on 29 shots as the Rush hung on for the win.
Court scored while playing in his 100th professional game and Kerins recorded the game-winning goal on his 21st birthday. Rapid City improved to 33-33-4-0 in the win while Idaho dropped to 56-11-1-2 with its loss. The Rush are now in a three-way tie for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Mountain Division, even with the Wichita Thunder and Utah Grizzlies, and are two points behind the third-place Kansas City Mavericks.
Rapid City has two games remaining in its regular season, the first of which will take place on Friday night again against the Steelheads. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at The Monument Ice Arena.
