RAPID CITY, SD – The Idaho Steelheads (19-10-3) overcame two multi-goal deficits to come back in a 6-5 win over the Rapid City Rush (14-16-5) on Monday night from Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.
The Rush opened the scoring with a pair of power play goals in the opening period. At 8:11, Rush forward Pierre-Luc Mercier placed a rebound into the net to edge ahead 1-0. The lead doubled to 2-0 at 19:25 with a power play goal from defenseman Chris Leibinger in the slot.
The Steelheads came back in the second period to take their first lead of the night with three-unanswered goals starting at 5:41 with a shot from Alex Dahl of the left post, cutting the lead in half to 2-1. Steelheads defenseman Brady Norrish followed up with a deflection coming from a shot at the point at 8:07 to tie the game, 2-2. Then, at 10:58, Steelheads defenseman Keegan Kanzig came out of the penalty box for a breakaway goal to take a 3-2 lead. The Rush would score three more goals thanks to forwards Alec Baer at 13:29 followed by two from Mercier at 14:10 and 15:43, respectively, to take back the lead at 5-3.
However, it was the Steelheads power play to kick-start the squad forward. At 4:31, Steelheads forward Reid Petryk slotted a 5-on-3 power play goal to cut the lead down to one, 5-4. Steelheads forward Brad McClure tied the game, 5-5, on a rebound at 7:02, then Petryk finished the comeback with his second power play goal of the night to take a 6-5 victory, closing the 2018 calendar year.
Steelheads goaltender Ryan Faragher (4-3-1) earned the win, halting all 11 shots in relief, and Colton Point stopped 13 of 18 shots to open the game. Rush netminder Adam Carlson (10-7-4) saved 18 of 24 shots in the loss.
The Steelheads head to the BOK Center on Saturday, January 5th at 6:05 p.m. MT to begin a two-game weekend against the Tulsa Oilers.
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