RAPID CITY, S.D. – The Rapid City Rush avoided elimination at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Ice Arena on Saturday night, building a 3-0 lead and then hanging on to force a game six showdown in Loveland, Colorado on Monday night.
Scott Wray, Derek LeBlanc and Kevin Harvey each scored goals in the first 31 minutes of play and then joined their teammates in holding off the Colorado Eagles to win Game 5 of the Turner Conference final 3-2.
Tim Boron stopped 28 of 30 shots faced to earn his fifth victory of the playoffs and second against the team he began the season with.
Scott Wray tallied only goal of the hard fought first period after sending the puck from behind the net to Josh Beaulieu in the crease. Beaulieu fought Eagles netminder Kyle Jones at the doorstep while Wray made his way to the opposite side of the crease and managed to poke it home for the 1-0 lead. Colorado out shot the Rush 10-8 in the first 20 minutes but headed into the locker room down by a goal. The Rush made it a 2-0 contest exactly two minutes into the middle frame when Derek LeBlanc’s shot from low in the right circle made it past a screened Kyle Jones. A tripping call on Daymen Rycroft provided a third power play opportunity for the home team and led to Kevin Harvey’s third goal of the post-season (all on the man-advantage). Harvey, stationed in front of the crease, deflected Riley Weselowski’s shot from the point past Jones and into the net to make it a 3-0 contest. Colorado’s Adam Hogg thought he beat Tim Boron at the 15:40 mark with his shot from the right circle, but the neither the goal judge or referee Dan Dreger agreed. Less than three minutes later, Hogg sent in a Matt Glasser rebound from the low slot to get the Eagles on the scoreboard. The Eagles had a narrow 11-10 lead in shots in the second period and a 21-18 lead after 40 minutes but remained down by two goals. Scott May scored at 5:15 of the final frame after a 4-on-2 rush into the offensive zone. After crossing the blue line, May sent the puck to Daymen Rycroft whose shot from the high slot was stopped by Jones. However, May re-appeared and buried the rebound to make it a 3-2 game. Jones stopped a penalty shot awarded to Colt King on the following shift. Jones was pulled for an extra attacker for the final minute and a half, but the Eagles were unable to score again.
Game 6 will be played at the Budweiser Events Center on Monday, May 9th with the opening face off at 7:05 p.m. MST.
Contact the writer at robert.keith@prohockeynews.com
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