Stateline, NV – In front of a stunned crowd at the Tahoe Blue Event Center, the Rapid City Rush defeated the Tahoe Knight Monsters 5-2. 

First period action was tentative as both teams appeared to be sizing each other up. 

Paul’s 2 minute high sticking penalty at 5:32 was successfully killed by Rapid City’s special teams.  Ryan Wagner’s solo slap shot at 2:36 put Rapid City on the board.   A late penalty on Bernard for hooking at 3.7 seconds  carried into the second period.
Rush led 1-0 at the end of the first period.

Quinn Olson’s shorthanded breakaway goal at 18:12 of the second period gave Rapid City a 2-0 lead. 

Swick’s minor high sticking call at 15:05 was killed by Tahoe. Briley Wood (Russell, Hubbarde) at 6:23 brought the Rush lead to 3-0.   A minor penalty on Stanick for slashing at 5:21 did not result in a goal for the Rush power play.
The second period ended in favor of the Rush 3-0.

The Knight Monsters came out hungry in the third period 

Sloan Stanick (Taylor, Kellen) beat Sergeev at 16:43. Ratzlaff ‘s cross-checking minor at 13:42 led to the only power play of the game at 12:23 for Knight Monsters Casey Bailey (Kallen, Gustafson). 

Tahoe’s Paliani took a 2 minute tripping minor at 3:55.   Though Tahoe killed the penalty, the transition of Paliani leaving the penalty box led to a backdoor goal by Cameron Buhl (Paul’s, Bernard) at 1:48.   Twenty seconds later Xavier Bernard with a 180 ft shot hit the empty net to secure the win for the Rapid City Rush.

Sergeev records the win for Rapid City with 38 saves on 40 shots.   Whitehead for Tahoe faced 32 shots with 28 saves.

The Rush and Knight Monsters face off again on Friday, December 5th, at the Tahoe Blue Event Center.   Puck drops at 8:00 p.m. MST.

For information regarding upcoming Rush home games, season tickets or corporate sponsorship contact the Rush at 605-716-7825 or at www.rapidcityrush.com.