The Saskatchewan Rush scored five straight goals in the third quarter to jump ahead of the Rochester Knighthawks and held on the rest of the way to earn a 14-12 victory.
The Rush remain undefeated so far this season at 3-0 while the Knighthawks drop to 0-3 at the opposite end of the league standings.
Mike Triolo opened the scoring with a shot around a defender that beat Knighthawks goalie Riley Hutchcroft high on the glove side. It would take a little over six minutes to even the score, but that resulted in a flurry of goals to end the quarter, with the teams taking turns scoring. When the dust settled, the Rush had a 3-2 lead.
The teams exchanged goals early in the second quarter, but then Rochester added two more to grab the lead, with both teams having their offences go silent for the last 11 minutes of the half.
Saskatchewan took over in the third quarter. Scoring just 27 seconds into the period opened the floodgates and the Rush poured in five goals in just five-and-a-half minutes to retake the lead and extend their advantage. Rochester finally stopped the run mid-way through the quarter, but Saskatchewan got their offence clicking again as the fourth quarter began, adding another three goals in the first two-and-a-half minutes.
After exchanging goals, the Knighthawks went on their own five-goal run late in the quarter to get back to within striking distance, but an empty-netter by Matt Hossack in the dying seconds of the game put it out of reach.
Austin Shanks led the way for the Rush, scoring four times and adding three assists. The Knighthawks offence was led by Ryan Lanchbury with a hat trick and four assists.
Frankie Scigliano made 35 saves in the win while Hutchcroft turned away 33 shots in the loss before being pulled in favour of Kevin Orleman, who saved another 11.
The Rush put their perfect record on the line on Saturday when they host the 2-1 Philadelphia Wings. Meanwhile, the Knighthawks travel to Buffalo to face another undefeated team, the Bandits.
