RAPID CITY, S.D. – Logan Nelson scored on the first shot of the game but the Rapid City Rush would manage nothing else as they were beaten by the Toledo Walleye 5-1 on Wednesday morning at The Monument Ice Arena.
The Rush opened the scoring in the first period when Alex Aleardi fed Nelson in the neutral zone and he charged in alone on a breakaway. Nelson deked from his forehand to his backhand and roofed a shot past John Lethemon to put Rapid City on top.
Toledo answered two minutes later after Seth Barton took a wrist shot from the blue line that was deflected by Brandon Hawkins in front of the net. The puck caromed over the shoulder of Adam Carlson and the game was tied at one.
Late in the first period with the Walleye on the power play they controlled an attacking zone draw and found Charlie Curti at the left circle. Curti snapped a wrist shot to the far post and through Carlson to put Toledo ahead, 2-1.
The Walleye extended that lead in the second period after Barton darted a pass to Brett McKenzie alone at the back door. He redirected the puck past Carlson and into the net to make it 3-1.
In the third, Toledo struck again with a power play tally. After Carlson made an initial save, Andrew Sturtz knocked the rebound home to extend the lead to three. Later, Sturtz poked in a puck that Carlson had appeared to cover and the Walleye lead grew to 5-1.
Nelson scored the lone goal for the Rush who fell to 22-24-1-0 in the loss. Toledo improved to 28-15-4-2 in the win. Rapid City will again host the Walleye on Friday night. Puck drop at The Monument Ice Arena is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
