WICHITA, KS – Tyler Coulter deflected a David Quenneville shot on a third period power play to vault the Rapid City Rush to a 3-2 win over the Wichita Thunder on Saturday night. The win ends a six-game losing streak for the Rush, however, their distance to the last playoff spot remains at .050 with 10 games remaining due to Utah’s shootout win over Tulsa.
The Rush jumped out to a 2-0 lead, scoring in the opening minutes of the contest. Just 1:59 into the game, Johnny Coughlin took a Tyler Coulter pass down the left wing side in Wichita’s third and fired a shot on net. Evan Weninger, in net for Wichita, made the save, but Cedric Montminy picked up the rebound and gave the Rush an early 1-0 lead with Coughlin and Coulter assisting. On their first power play of the game, another net-front rebound produced from the Quenneville brothers, David to Peter for a one-timer, was pocketed by Avery Peterson in the slot area, doubling the Rush lead to 2-0 at 10:23 of the first period as both Quennevilles assisted.
Wichita rolled back in the second frame and squared things up heading into the final period of play. Stefan Fournier received a Beau Starrett pass from behind the net and threw home a shot past Rush net-minder Dave Tendeck, cutting the Rush lead to 2-1 at 10:13 of the second period. Starrett and Alex Peters picked up the helpers on the tally. Exactly 5:30 later, Starrett found his name on the goal column on a high-skilled play from his teammates. With 4:27 left in the second, Jay Dickman entered the Rush zone and dropped it back to Fournier, who wound up and fired a slapshot on Tendeck’s net. Tendeck made the stop but produced a rebound that was batted out of mid-air by Dickman to Starrett, with the latter barely getting enough stick on the puck to slide it past Tendeck and in to tie the game at 2-2 as Dickman and Fournier were credited with the assists.
Penalties added up for Wichita in the final period, with an undisciplined high-sticking call coming against Jacob Graves that put the Rush to their fourth power play of the game. Just 24 seconds into the man-advantage, the Rush took the lead and never looked back. With 8:48 left in the game, Hunter Garlent found David Quenneville for a one-timer from the point that grazed Tyler Coulter on its way to the net. The redirection flew by Weninger and vaulted the Rush to a 3-2 lead. David Quenneville and Garlent assisted on the score. Pulling Weninger for the extra attacker in the final minutes, Wichita couldn’t muster a tying goal to perpetuate the game and the Rush hung on for a 3-2 win, ending a six-game losing streak.
Tendeck earned the win, stopping 31 of 33 shots in the effort (9-11-0-0).
The Rush conclude their seven-game road trip with their season series finale against Wichita Sunday afternoon. Puck drop for the rubber match and last meeting against the Thunder is slated for 3:05 p.m. MDT at INTRUST Bank Arena.
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