04/21/2010 11:13 PM -
RAPID CITY, SD – The Rapid City Rush scored four first-period goals on their way to a 7-3 win over the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs in Game 7 of the Northern Conference Finals Wednesday night at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. The loss ends Bossier-Shreveport’s season just one win shy of their sixth appearance in the President’s Cup Finals. Rapid City, meanwhile, will represent the Northern Conference in the CHL’s Championship series against the Allen Americans starting on Friday night.
The Rush scored three times in the first eight minutes of the game and never looked back after building the early lead. The ‘Bugs tried to battle back as the game went along with goals from Simon Mangos, Travis Clayton and Tyrel Lucas, but couldn’t make up for the early deficit and fell to 0-4 all-time in Game 7’s.
Rapid City came out blazing from the opening faceoff, outshooting the Mudbugs 8-0 in the early going and taking a 1-0 lead when Brendan Cook deflected in Gio Flamminio’s long shot from the point. The ‘Bugs tied it soon after on their first shot of the game as Tyrel Lucas won a faceoff back to Simon Mangos, who wristed a shot through traffic and Battochio’s five-hole at 4:41.
The tie didn’t last though, as the Rush kept coming and took back the lead with two goals in 20 seconds. First Blaine Jarvis scored on a rebound at the side of the net and then Les Reaney beat Parker Van Buskirk with a screened shot from the left boards. Rich Hansen capped off the period for Rapid City at 16:36, jamming the puck in after a scrum in front of the Mudbug net to make it 4-1.
The Rush picked up the scoring in the second period as Brendon Hodge beat Van Buskirk from the slot at 8:11. Clay Plume was then whistled for a five-minute major penalty for boarding at 8:37, resulting in a powerplay goal from Hansen about two minutes later that extended the lead to 6-1. On powerplay late in the middle frame, Travis Clayton knocked in his team-leading fifth goal of the playoffs and the ‘Bugs trailed 6-2 after 40 minutes.
Lucas scored on the rebound of a Jamie Milam shot at 5:52 of the third to cut the deficit to 6-3, but that was as close as Bossier-Shreveport would get. They outshot the Rush 17-3 in the third period, but couldn’t mount the incredible comeback they hoped for against Danny Battochio. Derek Campbell then finished off the scoring for Rapid City at 16:32 of the third to provide the final 7-3 margin.
Parker Van Buskirk faced a furious Rush attack in the first 30 minutes of the game, stopping 20 of 26 shots before being relieved in goal by Torrie Jung. In his professional debut, Jung stopped seven of eight shots he faced during the second half of the game. Danny Battochio improved to 8-2 in the playoffs with a 35-save effort for the home club.
Bossier-Shreveport outshot Rapid City 38-34 in the game. The ‘Bugs finished 1 for 6 on the powerplay, while the Rush was 1 for 5.
With their 13th season at its end, the Mudbugs will now begin planning and preparing for the 2010-2011 Central Hockey League season, which should begin in October. Season ticket renewal packages for next year will be distributed in the coming weeks.
Log on to www.mudbugshockey.com throughout the offseason to get all the latest news and information about Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs hockey. 
