Rush puts a smack on the Mavericks

RAPID CITY, SD – Stephen Baylis scored twice, Logan Nelson had three assists and Ryan Valentini scored one and assisted as he returned from the injured bench as Rapid City Rush beat Kansas City Mavericks, March 7, Friday night at The Memorial Ice Arena.

Rush opened the scoring less than 5 minutes into the first inning as Nelson grabbed a loose ball in the neutral area and sped into the late part of the attack. He left a pass for Alec Butcher, who dragged the ball from his forehand to his backhand and edged past Danil Chechelev, giving Rapid City the lead, 1-0.

Then, with 4-on-4 skating teams, Kansas City turned the tables in its own region, and Baylis found herself alone in front of the net. He took a wrist shot past Chechelev and the lead was 2-0.

Early in the second half, Valentini worked his way to the right post and left a pass for Kenton Helgesen at the top of the line. He finished close to the wall, making it 3-0. Rush added there in the final minutes of goal after Baylis netted a penalty in a breakthrough and was awarded a penalty he charged for money to make it 4- 0.

A Tommy Muck goal sent the Mavericks up the charts in the waning moments of the second half, but Rapid City once again took the lead thanks to power play early in the third half. Butcher made a shot into the net but Brett Gravelle collected the rebound and sent it home, making it 5-1.

Kansas City responded with a pair of goals in power play, first from Ryan Harrison, then from Lane Scheidl but Rush was fouled late in the third half when Calder Brooks hit Valentini in the neutral zone and he rushes into the attack. Valentini’s wrist shot went over the bar, making it 7-3 on aggregate.

Valentini and Butcher each had one goal and one assist, Nelson provided three and Baylis scored to give his team a 12th and 13th goal lead of the season. Rush improved to 9-10-1-2 in the win while Kansas City fell to 8-11-1-0.

Rapid City will host Kansas City again on Saturday night.

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