The Rapid City Rush and Wichita Thunder were back in action Friday night, playing the second game of their three-game series.
First Period
After only one goal was scored in the first on Thursday night, the Rush and Thunder saw a bit more offense in the first period on Friday. The Thunder were able to get on the board first with a goal from Dominic Dockery. Dockery’s goal came 7:49 into the first period and was assisted by Kobe Walker and Jeremie Bucheler.
The Rush were able to tie the game up 12:41 into the first with a goal from Ryan Wagner, assisted by Brett Davis and Aaron Hyman. The tie game did not last long as the Thunder were able to take the lead back with a goal from Mitchell Russell. Russell’s goal came 14:02 into the period, with the assists going to Ryan Finnegan and Jake Wahlin.
The first period ended with Wichita having a 2-1 lead after being outshot 15-9 by Rapid City.
Second Period
Wichita wasted no time in getting their offense started going into the second period. The Thunder started their second-period goal-scoring frenzy only 32 seconds into the period with a goal from Michal Stinil.
Rapid City got another goal in with another goal for Ryan Wagner, giving Wagner two two-goal games in as many days. Wagner’s goal came 3:27 into the period and was assisted by Brett Davis and Chaz Smedsrud.
The Thunder then struck back 5:10 into the second with a goal from Jay Dickman that just barely squeaked past the Rush goaltender. Dickman’s 11th of the season was assisted by Nolan Burke and Jeremie Bucheler. The Thunder then struck again with Tyler Jette’s goal 14:03 into the period. Jette’s goal was assisted by Ryan Finnegan and Jake Wahlin. The Thunder then took a 7-2 lead 17:21 into the period with a goal from Michal Stinil. Stinil’s second of the night was assisted by Jay Dickman and TJ Lloyd. With only 49 seconds left in the period, Jeremie Bucheler scored to give the Thunder an 8-2 lead. Bucheler’s goal was assisted by Jay Dickman and Nolan Burke.
The Thunder took an 8-2 lead into intermission after outshooting the Rush 12-11.
Third Period
After a very busy second period, the offensiveness fizzled off for the third period. Due to some extracurriculars at the end of the second period, Rush goaltender Matt Radomsky was given a game misconduct penalty and was unable to return to the game. Rapid City put goaltender Christian Propp in net for the third period.
The only goal of the third period came 4:44 in from Michal Stinil, completing his hat trick. Stinil’s goal was assisted by Kobe Walker.
The Rush and Thunder both had ten shots in the third period.
Final Stats
The Thunder ended up winning by a final score of 9-2 after being outshot 36-31 by the Rush. Rapid City went 0/2 on the powerplay and did not have their penalty kill tested at all during the game. The Thunder did not get any chances on the powerplay in the game but were able to go 2/2 on the penalty kill. Thunder goaltender Aaron Dell made 34 saves on 36 shots for a save percentage of .944. Rush starting goaltender Matt Radomsky had 13 saves on 21 shots for a save percentage of .619, while Rush relief goaltender Christian Propp had nine saves on ten shots for a save percentage of .900.
Three Stars
- Thunder forward Michal Stinil (three goals, three shots, +2)
- Thunder forward Jay Dickman (one goal, three assists, two shots, +4)
- Thunder defenseman Jeremie Bucheler (one goal, two assists, two shots, +4)
Final Thoughts
After Friday night’s game, the Rush have a lot of work to do to start putting together wins, starting with playing a full 60 minutes. The Rush also struggled defensively, left their goaltender hanging quite a bit, and did not hold the puck very well. Rapid City is allowing the opposing team to push them around a little too much, which helps the opposing team gain possession of the puck exceptionally well. The Rush did have a few players that would lay hits and play a bit more aggressively on the puck, but it was not consistent throughout the whole game. Once the Rush start playing a full 60 minutes and more aggressively on the puck, they should start seeing more wins coming to the team.
The Rush and Thunder will be back in action to wrap up their series on December 14 for Rapid City’s Teddy Bear Toss night with an early puck drop of 4:05 pm MT.
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