The Rapid City Rush made their first ever trip to South Carolina to take on the Stingrays in their first series without Head Coach Scott Burt.
First Period
The Rapid City Rush had a rough start to the game and found themselves fall behind early with the Stingrays finding the back of the net. The Stingrays found the back of the net 1:33 into the game with a goal from Austin Magera with the assist going to Josh Wilkins. The Stingrays then extended their lead 5:09 into the period with a goal from Justin Nachbaur. His goal was assisted by Magera and Connor Moore. The Stingrays then found the back of the net again only 47 seconds later. This time it was scored by Charlie Combs from Andrew Perrott and Blake Thompson.
Rapid City did not let the Stingrays go into intermission with a three goal lead as Ryan Wagner was able to find the back of the net 12:38 into the period. Wagner’s shorthanded goal was assisted by Jack Jeffers.
The Stingrays ended the period with a 3-1 lead after outshooting the Rush 14-18.
Second Period
After a very offensive first period, the two teams saw a much quieter period with only one goal being scored. The lone second period goal came from Stingrays forward Kyler Kupka 7:09 into the period and was unassisted.
The Stingrays had a 4-1 lead at the end of the second after being outshot by Rapid City 8-11.
Third Period
Rapid City was able to get the scoring started in the third period with an unassisted goal from Jack Jeffers 9:28 into the period.
The Stingrays then put the nail in the coffin with an empty net goal 18:29 into the period from Micah Miller. Miller’s goal was assisted by Austin Magera.
The Rush were then able to cut the Stingrays’ lead one last time with Holden Wale getting his first career goal on the powerplay. Wale’s powerplay goal was assisted by Connor Murphy.
The Stingrays outshot the Rush 13-7 in the third period.
Final Stats
The Stingrays won by a final score of 5-3 after outshooting the Rush 39-32. Stingrays goaltender, Seth Eisele, made 29 saves on 32 shots for a save percentage of .906 and Rapid City’s goaltender, Connor Murphy, made 34 saves on 38 shots for a save percentage of .895. South Carolina ended up going 0/1 on the powerplay and 4/5 on the penalty kill. Rapid City went 1/5 on the powerplay and 1/1 on the penalty kill, where they were able to score a shorthanded goal.
Three Stars
- Stingrays forward Austin Magera (one goal, two assists, six shots, +1)
- Stingrays forward Justin Nachbaur (one goal, two shots, +1)
- Stingrays Goaltender Seth Eisele (29 saves on 32 shots)
The Stingrays and Rush are back in action for game two of the series on Saturday, December 7th with puck drop at 5:05 pm MT for the Stingrays’ Teddy Bear Toss night. The two teams will wrap up their series on Sunday, December 8th with puck drop at 1:05 pm MT.
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