INDEPENDENCE, Mo. – Logan Nelson scored twice and Keanu Yamamoto netted the game-winning goal as the Rapid City Rush came from behind and beat the Kansas City Mavericks in overtime 4-3 on Monday night at Cable Dahmer Arena. The Rush extended their point streak to four games with the win and have now won six of their last nine games.
Kansas City started the scoring early in the first period when Pascal Laberge brought the puck into the attacking zone and slung a wrist shot from just inside the blue line. It got past a screened Daniil Chechelev low on the glove side and the Mavericks took a 1-0 lead.
Later in the opening frame, Luke Stevens put a shot on net that Chechelev stopped but the rebound sat loose in front of the net. Keeghan Howdeshell poked it through Chechelev on the near post and snuck it in, pushing the advantage to 2-0.
The Rush got themselves on the board in the second period after Alex Aleardi forced a turnover in the attacking zone and slid a pass to Nelson in front of the net. He hammered a one-timer past Callum Booth high on the blocker side and the deficit was cut to one.
Rapid City tied the score following a successful penalty kill. Max Coatta forced a turnover in the defensive zone as the penalty expired and found Nelson bounding out of the penalty box. Nelson sped in on a breakaway, deked to his backhand and roofed a shot through Booth to tie the score at two.
Kansas City took the lead back late in the second with a power play goal. John Schiavo found Tristan Mullin on the left circle and he fired a wrist shot through traffic. It got through the bodies in front and beat Chechelev high to make it 3-2.
In the third, the Rush tied the game when Calder Brooks weaved his way into the attacking zone and shook loose at the left circle. Brooks snapped a wrist shot past Booth low on the blocker side and the game was tied at three.
That pushed the game to overtime and after five minutes of up-and-down action, Ryan Zuhlsdorf gained the zone with an odd-man rush and flung a shot from the right circle. Booth got a piece of the puck but it bounced behind him where Yamamoto was able to poke it across the goal line for the game-winning goal.
Coatta had two assists, Nelson had his second two-goal game and Chechelev made 28 saves on 31 shots faced. Rapid City improved to 19-17-1-0 in the win while Kansas City moved to 16-12-5-0.
The Rush will now return home for a pair of games against the Idaho Steelheads over the weekend. It begins on Friday night and puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at The Monument Ice Arena.
