After sweeping the Idaho Steelheads on the road last week, the Rapid City Rush are welcoming the Idaho Steelheads to South Dakota for a two-game series.
First Period
After getting swept on home ice, the Steelheads came out with a lot of fire under them. 3:06 into the game, the Steelheads struck first with a goal from Jade Miller. Miller’s goal was assisted by Matt Register and Trevor Zins. The Steelheads were then able to extend their lead 6:00 into the first with a goal from Ty Pelton-Byce, and just 21 seconds later, he would strike again to give Rapid City a 2-1 lead with the assists going to MacEachern and Register. With 59.5 seconds left in the first period, the Steelheads scored their fourth goal. This time, it was Thomas Caron with the goal, as Justin Ertel and Reece Harsch each got credited with an assist.
The first period ended with a 4-0 lead for the Steelheads after outshooting the Rush 11-8.
Second Period
After letting in four goals on 11 shots in the first, the Rush pulled Matt Radomsky, as Connor Murphy would come in to start the second period for Rapid City. After a rough start to the game, the Rush came out to play in the second, finding the back of the net 6:02 into the period with a goal from captain Ryan Wagner. Wagner’s goal was assisted by Brady Pouteau and Zack Hoffman. Wagner got his second of the game less than two minutes later to bring the Rush within two. Wagner’s shorthanded goal was assisted by Trevor Janicke and Brady Pouteau. The Rush pulled within one 10:25 into the period, with Patrick Bajkov’s first of the season, with the assists going to Maurizio Colella and Brett Davis.
13:24 into the period, the Steelheads decided to join the party, making it 5-3. Idaho’s fifth goal was scored by Brendan Hoffmann, assisted by Hank Crone and CJ Walker.
The Rush were able to put themselves back within one 16:45 into the second. Billy Constantinou was able to hold the puck for a couple of extra seconds and sneak it past Idaho’s goaltender. Constantinou’s third goal of the season was assisted by Holden Wale and Chaz Smedsrud.
The Rush trailed the Steelheads 5-4 at the end of the second after being outshot 11-9 by the Steelheads.
Third Period
After a combined nine goals in the first two periods for both teams, the third period was a little quieter than the first two.
The first goal of the third came 7:17 into the period with the game-tying goal from Parker Bowman. The assists on Bowman’s goal went to Simon Boyko and Brady Pouteau.
The Steelheads were able to take the lead back on a powerplay goal from Patrick Kudla. Kudla’s goal came 15:19 into the period and was assisted by Hank Crone and AJ White.
The Rush outshot the Steelheads 11-10 in the third period.
Three Stars
- Steelheads forward Ty Pelton-Byce (two goals, four shots, -2)
- Rush forward Ryan Wagner (two goals, two shots, +3)
- Rush forward Brady Pouteau (three assists +2)
Final Stats and Thoughts
Idaho would take the opening game of the series 6-5 as the outshot the Rush 32-28. The Rush went 2/3 on the penalty kill and did not get any powerplay chances, while the Steelheads were not tested on the penalty kill and were 1/3 on the powerplay. Rush goaltender Matt Radomsky started the game and only played in the first period, where he made seven saves on 11 shots for a save percentage of .636. Rush goaltender Connor Murphy played in the second and third periods, making 19 saves on 21 shots for a save percentage of .905. Idaho’s goaltender Ben Kraws made 23 saves on 28 shots for a save percentage of .821.
Rapid City had a really rough start to this game, going down 4-0 early on. The team had a lot of defensive turnovers, were not pressuring the Steelheads very much, and just looked very disjointed. But the team was able to show that they can be resilient and did not let a bad first period ruin the entire game for them. The team came out with a lot more fire in the second and third and started to apply pressure on the Steelheads, which allowed them to come back in the game. While Rapid did not get any points out of the game, they should be able to use what they learned from this game to bounce back in the next.
The Rush and Steelheads will wrap up their series on Saturday, November 23, with puck drop at 7:05 pm MT.
