RAPID CITY, S.D. – Rapid City took a strangle-hold on the Northern Conference Semifinals series against the Missouri Mavericks with a 4-1 victory at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center on Wednesday night.
Another outstanding performance by Rush goalie Danny Battochio highlighted the evening, as he stopped 29 of 30 shots to put Rapid City on the cusp of the conference finals.
For the third straight game, the two teams opened with a scoreless first period. The Mavericks controlled most of the action, outshooting the Rush 14-8. 10 minutes in, Bill Vandermeer’s backhand bid got past Battochio , but the puck slid across the mouth of the goal and didn’t cross the line.
The Rush earned the first power play of the game on a hooking call to Hammond at the 12:37 mark. Missouri was successful on the kill and earned a four-minute man-advantage directly following the Hammond penalty. Despite a number of quality chances on the power play, the Mavericks were unable to score, and the teams went into the first intermission with a scoreless tie.
Missouri’s Brett Hammond tallied the first score of the game on a partial breakaway at the 13:59 mark. Hammond gained possession of the puck just before reaching the crease and then sent his shot over the goalies’ right leg. The goal was Hammond’s fourth of the playoffs, which ties him for the league lead.
Rapid City bounced back with an amazing three goals in exactly two minutes, giving the Rush a two-goal lead heading into the final period.
The first came on an unassisted short-hander from Jon Pelle who took possession of the puck just inside the blue line along the left wing side and skated in, beating Mavericks’ goalie Charlie Effinger with a flick of the wrist at the 17:06 mark .
59 seconds later, the Rush took the lead when Les Reaney stuffed home a rebound during a skirmish in front of the net.
The final goal of the period came at the 19:06 mark when Rich Hansen shoveled the puck behind Effinger along the near post.
Out shot 13-10 in the middle frame, the Mavericks went into the locker room down by two.
Rapid City
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