The Oilers couldn’t pick up a come-from-behind victory against the only undefeated home team in the league, falling 2-3 to Rapid City in the final game of a three-game series on Saturday.
Tyler Coulter, last night’s overtime hero, opened the scoring 5:33 into the game, walking down the goal line before roofing a backhander on the power play. The Oilers then killed off a five-minute power play that resulted from a major penalty assessed to Ryan Tesink 7:50 into the game. Danny Moynihan responded roughly 11 minutes later, tapping a right wing feed from Charlie Sampair past Tyler Parks 16:30 into the game.
Peter Qunneville ended the deadlock with a top corner missile over the shoulder of rookie goaltender Olle Eriksson Ek 5:18 into the middle frame. Tyler Coulter extended the Rush lead to 3-1, burying an opportunity created by a defensive-zone turnover at the 14:24 mark of the second period.
Steven Ruggiero painted the corner above Parks’ right shoulder, bringing the game within one 4:34 into the final frame, but his early third period goal wouldn’t be enough to spark a comeback. With the victory, the Rush advanced to 8-0-0-0 on home ice, the only team to remain undefeated at home.
The Oilers will travel to Wichita for a matchup against the Thunder on Wednesday before returning home and closing the month out with a game against rival Allen on the 30th.
