Rush leave no doubts

ALLEN, Texas – On the verge of winning their first Ray Miron President’s Cup, the Rapid City Rush head home to South Dakota today after two dominating performances at the Allen Event Center. It’s no mean feat to come into Allen and take the game away from the Americans, who are very tough to beat on home ice, but the Rush did it and left no doubts about their ability to win.
 
The Rush opened the scoring just 3:10 into Saturday night’s contest when Derek Campbell knocked in a loose puck past Allen goaltender Chris Whitley on their first shot on net. Rapid City’s Les Reaney added another goal four-and-a-half minutes later when he was in the right place at the right time. A wrister somehow squeezed past Whitley’s glove and was sitting there waiting to be batted in and Reaney pounced on it. For the first time in the playoffs, chinks in the mighty armor of Whitley were beginning to show.
 

The Americans answered back quickly at 9:10 when Justin Bowers ripped a wrister past Battochio with authority. Seven minutes later, Colton Yellow Horn scored the equalizer on the power play from the slot off a nice feed from Bowers. Both teams had great chances at either end and the play was back and forth, high tempo hockey.
 
The second period was the tipping point for the Rush when Whitley faced only 10 shots in the stanza but let three of them slip by. Two of Brendan Cook’s hat trick goals would lead the Rush’s charge in the second; the first coming at 4:03 as Cook roofed a shot past Whitley’s glove side. Cook’s second came at 10:33 on the power play after Tobias Whelan was caught for high sticking.
 
A scary moment took place early in the frame when Derek Campbell took a run at Colton Yellow Horn from behind, leaving the Americans player on the ice for several minutes. The Americans bench and fans were very loud and animated in letting referee Kevin Graber know how they felt about the non-call.
 
The final goal of the second was a redirection from Les Reaney off a point shot by Cody Bostock at 16:58. Rapid City outshot the Americans in the second period 10-2 for a two period total of 15 shots but a surprising 5 goals. It appeared as if playoff fatigue had finally caught up to the herculean performances of Chris Whitley, no shock, given the workload he’s carried.
 
The third period saw David McKee take over between the pipes for Allen and his Cup Finals debut would get off to a rocky start. Just 47 seconds into the final frame, Cook found the back of the net for the third time earning him the hat trick and one lone hat tossed on the ice by a Rapid City fan. At 4:23, Derek LeBlanc picked up an odd bounce off the backboards and played pinball with McKee’s skate, banking the puck off the netminders blade and into the net pushing the Rush advantage to five.
 
The Americans were unable to get any sustained offense going at all in the third period, much like the second. With their backs firmly against the wall, the Americans travel to South Dakota to take on the Rush in what could be the final game of the 2010 season on Tuesday night.
 
Contact the author at maurice.fitzerald@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer at chip.crail@prohockeynews.com