Tempers flare in the 3rd period of Game Four of the CHL Finals. The Rapid City Rush pulled out a 4-2 win over the Allen Americans on Friday, and evened the series at 2-2. Game Five will be played Saturday night. (Photo Credit: John O'Neill)
The Rapid City Rush scored three goals in the 2nd period of Friday night’s Game Three against the Allen Americans, and that production helped lead them to a 4-2 victory. With the win, the Ray Miron Cup Finals are tied at two games apiece.
I thought we had three legitimate chances to make it 3-0, and we didn’t bear down and bury the puck.” Americans head coach Dwight Mullins said. “They got a goal off of a long shift, and then we put ourselves in a hole on the power play. Games like that are going to happen. We made a tactical error on the third goal that we shouldn’t make at this time of year, but that’s the hockey game. It’s 2-2 and it’s a seven game series and we have to look at it like that.”
The Americans got a 2-man advantage early in the 1st period. Justin Bowers continued his scorching hot offensive assault in this year’s playoffs, picking up his 11th post-season goal on a quick goal line shot after a feed from Bruce Graham. Allen lead 1-0 just 2:43 into the game.
Still retaining a man advantage on the Rush after the power play goal, Allen added another goal 29 seconds later. Jordie Benn spotted Graham in the slot and fed him the puck from the left point. Graham spun and fired, beating Rush goalie Danny Battochio to give the Americans a 2-0 lead on just their fourth shot of the game.
The score remained 2-0 as the two teams went into the first intermission, and the momentum seemed to be completely in Allen’s corner.
But, Rapid City came out firing in the second. The Rush got on the scoreboard midway through the 2nd period when Jon Pelle tipped in a point shot from teammate Gio Flamminio, and cut the Americans lead in half.
Rapid City tied it up while on the power play at the 13:12 mark. The Rush were on a two-man advantage and had just moved the puck to Brendon Hodge as time expired on the first penalty. Hodge beat Whitley with a quick shot, though, and knotted the game at 2-2.
The Rush moved ahead on the scoreboard with a goal in the final minutes of the middle frame. Les Reaney scored his seventh goal of the post-season to give his team a 3-2 lead over the Americans.
Rapid City took the one-point lead and the shift of momentum into the locker room at the 2nd intermission. The Rush outshot the Americans 13-3 through the first fifteen minutes of the second, and 18-9 in the period.
Things seemed to unravel a bit further in the 3rd period, and frustration with the officiating from the Americans led to advantages for the Rush.
Rapid City grabbed a two-man advantage after an interference call by Nino Musitelli and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Mike Salekin for Abuse of Officials. Pelle scored his second of the night, going top-shelf on a sprawling Whitley, and gave the Rush a two-goal lead, 4-2.
Emotions boiled over after Allen defenseman Mike Salekin was given a game misconduct penalty, again for Abuse of Officials. Less than a minute later, pushing and shoving escalated in front of the Americans bench to a massive pileup. When the dust settled from the fracas, a total of 57 minutes in penalties were handed out: 36 minutes to Allen, including two 10-minute majors (both to Bowers), and 21 minutes to Rapid City.
As time expired in the game, an additional game misconduct was given to Mullins, also for Abuse of Officials.
“I’m extremely disappointed,” Mullins said. “I put a request into the league on a situation that has been occurring several times over the course of the season. I guess they refuse to take me seriously. Unfortunately we were put in some situations that kind of took us out of the hockey game.”
Mullins said the request to the league was in regards to “certain personalities involved in games that don’t necessarily jive”. He explained that his frustration came from these off-ice issues influencing the game played on the ice.
However, Mullins said he doesn’t expect any of the frustration from the end of Game Four to impact Game Five.
“It’s 2-2,” Mullins said. “We have an opportunity to come in here tomorrow night, win a game, and go up 3-2. That’s what we’re going to do.”
Americans Note: Goaltender Chris Whitley broke several “single post-season” CHL records in Friday’s loss to the Rush. Whitley made his 18th appearance in the playoffs this season, which passed Chad Ericksson and Steve Plouffe on the all-time list. He also set records for minutes played in a post-season (1066) and for saves in a single post-season (566). Ericksson previously held both of those records.
Photo Gallery by John O’Neill:
