The Rapid City Rush and Maine Mariners faced off for the first time in the Black Hills on Thursday night in the first of their three-game series.
First Period
The Rush and Mariners had a slow start to their game, as it took the two teams 4:15 to get the first shot of the game, with the Mariners getting the first shot. The Mariners were also able to get the first goal of the game after a Rush player blocked a shot, causing the puck to get caught in his skates, and Mariner’s forward Brooklyn Kalmikov was able to pick up the puck and find the back of the net. Kalmikov’s goal came 7:47 into the period and was assisted by Lynden McCallum and Zachary Massicotte.
The Mariners were then able to extend their lead after the Rush turned the puck over in their own zone and had a major defensive breakdown, leaving Massicotte wide open in the middle of the zone to shoot it home, giving the Mariners their first shorthanded goal of the season. Massicotte’s shorthanded goal came 18:14 into the period and was assisted by Jacob Hudson and Wyllum Deveaux.
The Mariners took a 2-0 lead into the second period after outshooting the Rush 10-9 in the first.
Second Period
After a slow start in the first, the Rush got the scoring going early in the period to get themselves on the board with a goal from Blake Bennett after he was able to skate past the Mariner’s defensemen and squeak the puck past Maine’s goaltender. Bennett’s goal came 30 seconds into the period and was assisted by Trevor Janicke and Joni Jurmo.
After Rush forward Connor Mylymok was given a five-minute major and a match penalty for slew-footing, the Mariners were able to convert on their powerplay to get their two-goal lead back after forward Xander Lamppa was able to deflect a shot into the net. Lamppa’s powerplay goal came 3:25 into the period and was assisted by Lynden McCallum and Wyllum Deveaux.
The Rush then answered back after Ryan Wagner was able to sneak behind their defense and get a shorthanded breakaway and went five-hole on the Mariner’s goaltender. Wagner’s shorthanded goal came 7:14 into the period and was assisted by Trevor Janicke and Billy Constantinou.
The Rush then tied up the game a little over a minute later when Deni Goure was crashing the net and received a pass from Maurizio Colella. Goure had a wide-open net and was able to tap it in. Goure’s goal came 8:16 into the period and was assisted by Colella and Chaz Smedsrud.
The Mariners regained the lead after forward Christian Sarlo broke through the Rush’s defense and put the puck five-hole on Rapid City’s goaltender. Sarlo’s goal came 15:01 into the period and was unassisted.
The Mariners led the Rush 4-3 at the end of the second after both teams had ten shots in the period.
Third Period
After scoring the first goal of the second period, the Rush were able to get the first goal of the third after Blake Bennett was able to shoot the puck over the glove-side should of Maine’s goaltender. Bennett’s goal came 1:04 into the period and was assisted by Chaz Smedsrud and Trevor Janicke.
The Rush were able to get their first lead of the night after Smedsrud received a short pass from Trevor Janicke and was able to put it home. Smedsrud’s powerplay goal came 16:40 into the period and was assisted by Janicke and Blake Bennett.
The Mariner’s outshot the Rush 11-7 in the third period.
Final Stats
The Rush won by a final score of 5-4 after being outshot 31-26 by the Mariners. Rapid City went 1/4 on the powerplay and 2/3 on the penalty kill while the Mariners went 1/3 on the powerplay and 3/4 on the penalty kill. Both teams had a shorthanded goal as well. Rush goaltender Connor Murphy had 27 saves on 31 shots for a save percentage of .871 while Mariners goaltender Ryan Bischel had a save percentage of .808 after having 21 saves on 26 shots.
Three Stars
- Rush Forward Chaz Smedsrud (Game-winning goal, two assists, one shot, +1)
- Rush Forward Blake Bennett (Two goals, one assist, five shots, -1)
- Rush Forward Trevor Janicke (four assists, -1)
Final Thoughts
This was not Rapid City’s cleanest game, but a win is a win. Compared to the sweep in Idaho, the Rush did not come out with as much drive and fire and played a lot sloppier, but they were able to keep themselves in the game and walk away with two points. Rapid City’s best period was easily the second period as they were able to find their offensive game and were able to pull themselves back in the game after a rough first period.
Rapid City and Maine are back in action Friday, February 14th and will then wrap up their series with Midnight Madness on Saturday, February 15th. Puck drop is at 7:05 pm MT on Friday and 11:59 pm MT on Saturday.
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