CHL Rapid City Rush

Rush Fall To Mallards, Take 3-2 Series Lead Back To Black Hills

Published on April 12, 2014 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Rapid City Rush News Release


(MOLINE, IL) - The Quad City Mallards closed out their home portion of this opening round playoff series with a bang, taking on the Rapid City Rush in a crucial Game 5 matchup.  Looking to build off of his stellar performance in net for the Rush was Wayne Savage, while CHL All-Rookie goaltender Ty Rimmer was looking for redemption in his second start.  At the end of 60 minutes, the Mallards would defeat the Rush 3-1 behind their best shooting performance of the series, taking a huge 3-2 lead in the set back to the Black Hills for next week.

With new resolve in this crucial Game 5 matchup, the Mallards set an early tone and took a quick multi-goal lead on the Rush.  Scoring first was Gergo Nagy, netting his second goal of the postseason as he slipped by the defense and tipped a puck past Wayne Savage to put the Mallards on the board first 6:06 into the game.  Moments later, roughly halfway through the first, the Mallards power play would make a big contribution as Justin Fox scored his first goal of the postseason, giving the Mallards a 2-0 lead heading into the second.  The Rush would pick up the pace of things in the second period, but would be unable to solve rookie Ty Rimmer, playing in his second postseason appearance.

The Rush would find some life in the third period, and cut the Mallards deficit in half.  Sean Erickson would make a break in the neutral zone, sending the puck on net, followed by Kevin Harvey crashing the net to bury the rebound for his first goal of the postseason. Unfortunately for the Rush, exactly 39 seconds later, the Mallards would strike back, with former Rush forward Jeff Lee feeding Vladimir Nikiforov on the back door for his first goal of the postseason to re-establish the Mallards two-goal lead at 3-1 with 13:53 left in regulation.  The Rush would crash the net and pound Ty Rimmer with quality chances, but ultimately would not even the score, and the Mallards would win 3-1 and take a pivotal Game 5 along with a 3-2 lead in the series.

Wayne Savage made 30 saves on the evening, recording his first postseason loss in his second appearance (1-1).  The Rush recorded a series low for shots on net with 21 in the game, while the Mallards set a series high with 33 shots on net, one of the rare occasions in which that has happened in this head-to-head set between these clubs this year.  Kevin Harvey recorded his first goal of the playoffs early in the third period, becoming the fifth player to record his first postseason goal in the road portion of this series. The series shifts back to Rapid City for Game 6 on Tuesday night at 7:05 PM MST, with Game 7 coming 24 hours later (if necessary).

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Central Hockey League Stories from April 12, 2014


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