CHL Rapid City Rush

Rush Earns Pre-Season Victory

Published on October 11, 2008 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Rapid City Rush News Release


(Broomfield, CO) - The special teams were put to work as the Rapid City Rush earned a 3-1 victory over the Rocky Mountain Rage in their first ever preseason contest.

Derek Edwards and R.G. Flath picked up the goals for the Rush in a game that featured a combined XXX penalty minutes. The Rush also benefitted from the strong play of goaltender Miguel Beaudry.

The Rush penalty kill was put to the test early as the Rage had two 5-on-3 power-play in the first period alone. The Rush were able to eliminate the first with the help of a Rage penalty that shortened the two-man advantage. In the final 2 minutes of the first, the Rage gained another two-man advantage for a minute and 16 seconds which the Rush killed off once again.

With Rapid City spending much of the time short-handed, the Rage were able to control the first period of action and at the end of the first, the shot total was 14-4 in favor of Rocky Mountain.

The lone chance for the Rush in the first period came on a breakaway as defenseman Jamie VanderVeeken streaked in on Rage goaltender Scott Reid and was denied on a backhand attempt. The game was scoreless and both teams were 0-for-5 at the first intermission.

The second period saw the first goal for the Rush as defenseman Derek Edwards lit the lamp for Rapid City. Edwards entered the Rage zone on the right wing boards, getting by one defenseman, and the left-hand shot was able to take a back-hander that went top-shelf, short-side on Reid. Assisting on the goal was Rich Hansen and Eric Nelson. Edwards' goal was a power-play goal at the 3:40 mark of the second period.

Although the Rage still led in the shot department 25 to 17, the Rush were in the lead heading into the second intermission.

The third period brought more physical play and it started with a fight between 6'5" 210-pound Rush defenseman Jozef Sladok and Rage forward Mark Versteeg-Lytwyn. After that, the Rush were able to add to their lead with a goal from R.G. Flath at the 15:15 mark of the 2nd with Nick Vernelli and Eric Nelson collecting the assists.

Flath came in on a partial break-away and faked a slapshot then slid it under Reid to make it 2-0. Shortly thereafter, the Rage cut the Rush lead in half as Versteeg-Lytwyn was able to beat Beaudry with a rebound off a faceoff in the Rush zone. Stephen Cooke added a short- handed empty-net goal with just over a minute left to make it a 3-1 lead for the Rush.

Dropping the gloves in the 3rd period for the Rush were Kyle Sheen and Sladok for the second time.

The Rush ended up with 26 shots on the game and 1-for -13 on the power-play. The Rage were held 0-for-11 on the man-advantage due in large part to the stellar play of Rush goaltender Miguel Beaudry who made 44 saves on the night. The two teams combined for 78 penalty minutes on the night.

The Rush, now 1-0 in preseason play, face-off against the Colorado Eagles on Saturday Night at 7:05pm.

For more Rush news, visit www.RapidCityRush.com.

Check out the Rapid City Rush Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Central Hockey League Stories from October 11, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central