Scott Wray of the Rapid City Rush raises his hands in celebration, after scoring a goal in the second period of Friday night's game against the Allen Americans. The Rush won the game 6-1.
The Allen Americans hosted one of the top teams in the Northern Conference on Friday night – the Rapid City Rush. The offensive firepower of the Rush overwhelmed an Americans defense that seemed to struggle for most of the game, and Rapid City powered their way to a decisive 6-1 victory.
“It’s out third loss all year at home, and you’re going to have nights where things don’t go your way,” said Americans head coach Dwight Mullins. “I think there were some thing I saw tonight that are pretty uncharacteristic of us. It’ll be interesting to see. We have to put this behind us and respond here tomorrow [vs. the Wichita Thunder].”
There was an aggressive start to the game, as both teams wanted to establish dominance early. The Americans were initially able to move the puck well in the Rush’s zone; centering passes were put on net, but soaked up quickly by Rapid City goalie Danny Battochio.
But, despite being outshot early, the Rush were the first to score, on just their second shot of the game. Brendan Cook shouldered past an Americans’ defenseman with the puck, to earn a breakaway opportunity. He buried the puck over Americans netminder Chris Whitley’s shoulder for the early 1-0 lead, just under eight minutes into the first period.
On the power play, just over 14 minutes into the period, the Americans looked like they had tied it up after a pile-up in front of the Rush net. But, the referee quickly waived it off after the goal light illuminated, and whistled the play dead shortly after, as Battochio had covered up the puck.
As the period was drawing to a close, Americans forward Tobias Whelan was cut down on his way to the net, and collided with Rush goalie Battochio. Rapid City defenseman Jamie VanderVeeken took exception to this collision, even though it appeared rather accidental, and jumped on Whelan, continuing to cross check him after the whistle had blown. VanderVeeken was given a 10-minute misconduct, and his unsportsmanlike behavior penalty gave Allen a two minute power play. They were unable to take advantage of it, however, and Rapid City led the game 1-0 after one period of play.
Battochio had to be sharp, as the 2nd period got underway. Allen was heavily outshot, but the pucks they did put on net were challenging ones. Battochio was up to the task.
As a penalty was expiring to Whelan, mid-way through the 2nd period, the Rush got on the board again. Rapid City forward Rod Aldoff partially settled down a puck dished to him, and slapped it on net. Whitley was able to make the initial save, but the puck wasn’t covered, and Scott Wray put it in to give Rapid City a 2-0 lead.
About two minutes later, after an initial 3-on-2 break, the Rush again wore Whitley down with shots. The Americans netminder was able to stop the first and second shots against him, but with Allen’s defense unable to cover all players, Rich Hansen slapped it in on the right side of the net, and Rapid City was running away with the game, 3-0.
Nino Musitelli finally got the Americans on the board as time was running out in the 2nd period. Allen went on the power play after an interference penalty was called on Rapid City. The Americans won the ensuing face-off in the Rush zone, and after the inintial shot from the point was stopped by Battochio, Musitelli slapped the rebound into the net over the sprawling goalie.
But, the Rush would regain their three-goal lead just a little over two minutes later. After an odd-man rush started an opportunity for Rapid City, there was a puck-battle near the net. Jamie VanderVeeken was able to get the puck over the line for the goal. The period ended with Rapid City up, 4-1.
Allen made a goaltender change to start the 3rd period, in an effort to shake things up a bit, according to Mullins. Charlie Effinger came in to play the third, and Whitley left the game having made 24 saves on 28 shots. Whitley was strong on the first and second shots, but the defense had trouble clearing the puck and it led to multiple shots in succession on him several times.
But, the Americans were unable to muster a comeback in the third, and the Rush kept the pressure on, holding Allen off the board for the rest of the game. Rapid City forward Les Reaney added two goals in the third period, but with the Americans unable to score at all, the game was already decided. The final score was 6-1, Rush.
“We’ve been good all year,” Americans captain Jarret Lukin said. “We’re at the top of the standings – but, at the same time, when things good you can’t get to high and when things are bad you can’t get too low. Maybe it was a good thing we got beat that bad, to remind us we’re not the best and we’re not the only good team in the league.”
The Americans play again on Saturday night, as they host the struggling Wichita Thunder.
