Blaine Jarvis crashes into the net following his shot in the first period that gave the Rush a 2-0 lead over the Brahmas

Payback is a bitch

Rush dominate Brahmas in 5-1 rout

Last night, the Texas Brahmas had a taste of what the Rapid City Rush got on March 6th when they visited the NYTEX Sports Center for the first time. Stymied by an early 3-0 deficit, the defending President's Cup champions were defeated in a 5-1 contest during their first game at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Arena.

5,010 fans were in attendance to watch the Rush dominate in their next to last regular season game at home. It was a great crowd too. The arena, added two years ago to the Rapid City Convention Center, is a very attractive venue and the fan base was fun to watch, although the Brahmas were getting clobbered.

Justin Kinnunen was the lone scorer for the Brahmas, who were for the most part, unable to solve Danny Battochio, who was red hot in goal for the Rush. Special teams came up blank on six man-advantages but was successful on one of two penalty kills.

With the loss, the Brahmas record goes to 31-24-7 (9-18-4 on the road) with 69 points. As a result, the Laredo Bucks will have the opportunity to clinch third place in the South if they can beat the Odessa Jackalopes tonight at home.

Both teams looked good early on in the first period, but it was the home team who got the first tally.

After a call on Grant Jacobsen for Hooking, Colt King got Rapid City on the board at the 8:24 mark, deflecting Jamie VanderVeeken’s blast from the high slot past Brett Jaeger. Scott Wray was also in on the assist.

Blaine Jarvis scored what would be the game-winner just over four minutes later, chipping the puck over Jaeger’s blocker before crashing into the net after losing his footing as he skated in towards the crease. Colt King and Dave Grimson were credited with the assist.

The Brahmas kept the pressure up, but had several scoring chances turned away by Battochio, who was just named to the CHL 2009-10 all-rookie team.

Brendan Cook’s rebound goal gave the Rush a 3-0 cushion at the 16:05 mark with Scott Wray and Les Reaney assisting.

The Brahmas had the 10-9 shot advantage after 20 minutes but were down by three heading into the first intermission in a game that was all but already over at that point.

Justin Kinnunen prevented the shut out 3:09 into the middle frame when he blasted the puck past Battochio to make it a 3-1 game with the assists coming from Jordan Cameron and Matt Burto.

The Rush fired back less than three minutes later when Rich Hansen, set up by Jamie VanderVeeken and Jon Pelle, beat Jaeger to make it 4-1 at the 6:01 mark.

Scott Wray wrapped up the scoring late in the second period, taking Les Reaney’s second assist of the night off a face-off and sending it top-shelf to secure the final score at 5-1 at the 18:08 mark.

Rapid City out shot the Brahmas 16-10 in the second period and had the game wrapped up after 40 minutes.

There would be no scoring in the final frame. The Brahmas had a 9-6 shot advantage, but were unable to beat the brick wall that was Danny Battochio. Rapid City had the 31-29 shot advantage in the game.

Brett Jaeger made 26 saves on 31 shots faced and takes the loss. His record goes to 19-15-3-2. Danny Battochio made 28 saves on 29 shots and earned the win. His record goes to 27-5-3-2.

The Brahmas went zero for six on the power play. Rapid City went one for two. The Brahmas were assessed four minutes on two infractions. The Rush received 12 minutes on six infractions.

The 3rd Star of the game went to Danny Battochio for a stellar performance in net. The 2nd Star was awarded to Colt King, who had a goal and an assist and the 1st Star went to Scott Wray, who had a goal and two assists on the night.

You can view the box score here and the Game Live broadcast here

The Brahmas and the Rush will face off again tonight to decide the season series. The game begins at 7:35 CST.

Photo Credit: Jason Beert