Idaho Takes Game One
February 22, 2018 - ECHL (ECHL)
Rapid City Rush News Release
(RAPID CITY, SD) - Max French's three-point night, including a pair of third period strikes that also included the game-winning goal powered the Idaho Steelheads to a 4-2 win over the Rapid City Rush on Wednesday night. The game marked the first in a three-game series this week.
Idaho started the scoring entries in the first period and left with a multi-goal advantage after the first 20 minutes. With 10 seconds remaining on their first power play of the night, and with 3:32 gone by in the game, Max French started a passing sequence with Jefferson Dahl that ended with Cole Ully burying Dahl's centering feed from the slot by Rush net-minder Adam Vay to give the Steelheads a 1-0 lead (Dahl and French assisted). Exactly 46 seconds later, Connor Chatham broke the Steelheads out of their zone, and A.J. White carried it into the Rush third. Shortly after gaining entry, White lost the puck in a shuffle up the boards, but it came to Will Merchant, who fired a slot shot by Vay to make it a 2-0 Steelheads lead with 4:18 gone by (Whir and Chatham assisted).
The Rush, thanks to some special teams help of their own, cut the deficit to one in the middle period heading into the final frame. With 8:16 gone by in the second, Kenton Miller deflected a Pavel Jenys pass behind Idaho goalie Philippe Desrosiers to bring the Rush within striking distance, down 2-1 leading into the third period (Jenys and Gustav Bouramman assisted).
Max French helped Idaho seal things up in the third, scoring his first of a pair less than a minute into the third. With 48 seconds gone by, French carried the puck to the slot and sniped a shot off the back bar of the goal to re-establish to two-goal advantage for Idaho a 3-1 (Corbin Baldwin assisted). The Rush, down but not out, got another spark of offense to keep the game close just a few minutes later. With 15:49 remaining in the game, Desrosiers denied both Andrew and Kenton Miller in close range, but the rebound came right to Pavel Jenys, who dunked the puck on the back door to bring the Rush deficit to 3-2 (the Millers assisted). French, however, struck for a second time in the game, and re-establsihed the multi-goal advantage. With 9:13 remaining in regulation, French took yet another Jefferson Dahl pass off of a Rush defensive zone turnover and zipped a shot by Vay to make it a 4-2 Steelheads lead (Dahl and Ully assisted). Despite having a late power play that turned into a two-man advantage with over two minutes remaining, Desrosiers and the Steelheads hung tough and held on for the 4-2 win.
Adam Vay stopped 36 of 40 shots on goal in the defeat (11-13-1-0).
Both teams will rematch Friday, February 23rd, with puck drop slated for 7:05 p.m. at Premier Home Mortgage Ice in Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.
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