RAPID CITY, S.D. – The Rapid City Rush hung four goals in the second period to take control of the game as they went on to beat the Kansas City Mavericks 6-4, Friday night at The Monument Ice Arena. Rory Kerins and Matt Marcinew each scored for the third consecutive game for the Rush.
With Rapid City trailing 2-1 in the second, Calder Brooks took a pass at the blue line and skated to the slot. He slid a pass towards Kerins on the right wing who blasted a one-timer past Dillon Kelley, evening the score at two.
Later in the period, with the Rush on a two-man advantage, Marcinew sped towards the net from the right wing. He flicked a shot through the legs of Kelley and Rapid City took its first lead of the game, 3-2.
The Rush struck again when a puck was fed to the front of the net and bounced off skates and towards the far post. Max Coatta skated from below the goal line and, in one motion, grabbed the puck and backhanded it over Kelley’s glove to make the score 4-2.
Less than a minute later, Logan Nelson got possession at the left circle and shook himself loose. He fired a wrist shot short side that Kelley got a piece of but the puck trickled into the back of the net and the lead was 5-2.
The Mavericks chipped away at the Rapid City lead in the third period, first when Tristan Mullin beat Daniil Chechelev short side. They brought themselves within one after Jake Jaremko cashed in on a power play to make it 5-4.
Kansas City then pulled its goaltender for an extra attacker and Marcinew eventually received a pass at his own blue line. He skated to center ice and fired the puck into the empty net, pushing the score to its 6-4 final.
Kansas City started the scoring in the first period. As a bouncing puck found its way to the front of Daniil Chechelev’s net, the Mavericks pounced on it and Pascal Laberge nudged it across the goal line to make the score 1-0.
The Rush answered later in the first when Lucas Feuk hit Rhett Rhinehart at the blue line. He fired a slap pass to the back door where Jon Martin had the inside position to redirect the puck past Kelley and into the net to tie things at one. Kansas City then took its 2-1 lead on a Nick Pastujov goal from the right circle.
Marcinew had two goals, Kerins scored and Nelson finished with a goal and an assist. The Rush improved to 2-1-0-0 in the win while the Mavericks fell to 1-1-0-0. Rapid City and Kansas City will meet again on Saturday night at The Monument Ice Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and prior to the game, the Rush will retire the jersey of former defenseman and the franchise leader in games played, Riley Weselowski.
