Rush Power Past Thunder 6-3

Tuesday, November 11 2014 10:05 PM

Rapid City, SD (Nov. 11th) – Rapid City (5-4-0-1) recorded three power play goals and skated away from Wichita (2-4-1-1) on Tuesday night by the final score of 6-3 at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Danick Gauthier led the way with a goal and an assist for the Thunder offense. The Thunder drop to 0-2-0-0 on the season against the Rush and will face Rapid City again tomorrow night to close out a two-game trip to the Black Hills.
Rapid City capitalized on an early power play chance after Mike Wilson was sent off for hooking. Daniel Tetrault unloaded a shot from the blueline that got through Tim Boron and gave the home team a 1-0 lead. Wichita answered at 6:45 when Kurtis Bartliff won a foot race, fell down to one knee and as he was getting back up, beat Wayne Savage on the blocker side to even things at one. Landon Oslanski gave Rapid City a 2-1 lead with a wrist shot from the top of the right wing circle on the man advantage. The rest of the first period went back and forth and ended with Wichita trailing by one and 18 seconds of power play time.
The only goal of the second came from Jesse Schultz when he got to the left face-off dot and rifled a wrister over Boron's glove to make it 3-1. Wichita dominated the early portion of the period, outshooting the Rush 11-3 at one point, but Savage kept the Rush on top heading into the third period.
The two teams combined for five goals in the third period. Rapid City scored 37 seconds in when Daniel Barczuk put home his own rebound that glanced off the post and made it a 4-1 lead. Wichita cut the lead back to two with a power play goal from Gauthier from the right circle at 4:39. Less than two minutes later, Tetrault fired a shot from the boards that got through Boron and made it 5-2. Scott Brannon added to the lead at 11:02 with a rebound goal for his first of the season and a 6-2 lead. The Thunder responded with a goal from RG Flath at 14:33 to finish the barrage and a 6-3 Rush win.
Wichita's streak on the penalty kill was snapped at 17-straight. Flath recorded his first goal this season and his 74th of his Thunder career. Bartliff tallied his first of the year. Stephen Schultz added a helper and pulls into a three-way tie with six points. Boron suffers his third loss of the year, stopping 20 of 26 shots. Savage earns the victory, stopping 32 of 35 shots he faced.
Wichita went 1-for-4 on the power play. Rapid City was 3-for-4 on the man advantage.
Wichita stays in the Black Hills against Rapid City as the two teams face off tomorrow night at 7:35 p.m. central time. Wichita returns home on Saturday night to face the Allen Americans for the second time this season.
Individual tickets are on sale now. Don’t delay! Tickets can be purchased at the INTRUST Arena Box office, by calling 755-SEAT or go online at www.selectaseat.com. Stay up-to-date on all the news during the season by visiting www.wichitathunder.com.

About the ECHL
The ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states and has grown into a coast-to-coast league with 28 teams in 20 states and one Canadian province for its 27th season in 2014-15. There have been 541 players who have started their career in the ECHL have gone on to play in the National Hockey League, including 29 who made their NHL debuts in the 2013-14 season. The ECHL had affiliations with 26 of the 30 NHL teams in 2013-14, marking the 17th consecutive season that the league had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. Further information on the ECHL is available on its website at ECHL.com, as well as on Twitter and Facebook.