Rush Win Two Straight
January 17, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Rapid City Rush News Release
(INDEPENCE, MO) - Andy Huff notched his first professional goal, Jesse Schultz earned another milestone in his career, and Johnny Griggs stopped 35 pucks en route to a 3-1 win for the Rapid City Rush over the Missouri Mavericks, giving the Boys from the Black Hills sole possession of fifth place in the Central Division of the ECHL's Western Conference.
Rush forward Jesse Schultz celebrated his 200th game in a Rush uniform by inking himself onto the scoresheet for a fourth consecutive game. With 57.2 seconds remaining in the opening frame, the 12th year pro took a feed from the rookie Cody Ferriero in his wheelhouse, and rifled a wrister over the glove of Mavericks net-minder Mike Clemente, affording the Rush a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
At the 5:47 mark of the second period, Rush rookie Andy Huff notched his first goal as a professional hockey player to double the Rush lead. Former Mavericks defenseman Dalls Ehrhardt came up with his second helper of the night, keeping the puck in the Mavericks zone on the blue line by sending a pass down to Huff. With a man draped all over him, Huff managed to fling a backhand shot past Clemente to extend the Rush lead to 2-0.
The Mavericks wouldn't go down without a fight, and would finally draw blood after 47:47 of shutout hockey from Rush goaltender Johnny Griggs. On the final Mavericks power play of the game, forward Andrew Courtney finished a tic-tac-toe passing play and drilled towards Griggs, but the puck trickled by him after he made the initial stop, cutting the Mavericks deficit in half to 2-1 with 12:13 left in the game. After multiple series of back-and-forth hockey, Scott Brannon sealed the Rush win with an empty-net goal with 18.5 seconds, ultimately leading to a 3-1 final score in favor of the Rush.
Johnny Griggs, in his third appearance for the Rush, earns his second win for his new club, his first in regulation, stopping all but one of the 36 shots thrown his way (4-3-0). Andy Huff scored his first goal as a professional for the Rush, while Jesse Schultz' first period goal placed him five points behind Scott Wray for the franchise record for all-time points in a Rush uniform.
The Rush finish their three-game-in-three-night road trip with a matinee showdown against the Quad City Mallards once again in the iWireless Center, with puck drop slated for 3:05 p.m. MST.
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