RAPID CITY- A goal scored on a marathon power play, and a brick wall defending the net.

That's all that the Arizona Sundogs needed to hand the Rapid City Rush a 3-0 blanking in Central Hockey League action Friday night.

The defending CHL champion Sundogs denied a sellout Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Ice Arena crowd of of 5,119 a late Christmas gift by stymieing the Rush in nine power play chances.

Rapid City couldn't capitalize on three man-advantage opportunities in the final stanza, including a five-on-three for 1:11 midway through the period.

The SunDogs (12-17-1 overall) came in to the game having allowed 127 goals, the most in the CHL. But Arizona goalie Marco Emond stopped all 29 shots that got through to him, including a 20-shot barrage in the final period.

Rapid City goalie Miguel Beaudry tallied 31 saves, but the two that found the back of the net from Sundogs left-winger Karl Sellan in the first period were all that Arizona needed.

Sellan found an opening on a wraparound just 1 minute, 29 seconds into the game, then scored his second goal off a rebound with 3:23 left during a nine-minute power play stemming from a penalty meltdown by Rapid City's Kyle Sheen.

Sheen was initially given two minutes each for cross-checking and instigating a fight with Arizona's Andre Selander, along with a five-minute major for fighting. Sheen was tossed from the game at the 10:26 mark after being given two 10-minute misconduct penalties from the skirmish.

"It was a bad penalty, and (Sheen) knows it," said Rapid City head coach Joe Ferras. "You can't put your team in a situation like that against a team like Arizona. "They only scored one on the power play, but it wears you down," Ferras said. We were on penaly-kill for 11 minutes out of the first 20, and that just kills you."

After a scoreless second period Rapid City ramped up the intensity in the final 20 minutes, but the Rush still couldn't capitalize.

Rapid City celebrated an apparent goal with 14:20 left, but referee Peter Friesema waved off the score, ruling that the net had been knocked from its moorings before the puck crossed the goal line.

A Derek LeBlanc wrister from the right side with 12:15 left ricocheted off the crossbar and Rich Hansen missed another center shot when his stick broke.

"We played fantastic in the third period, but you've got to bury those chances," Ferras said. "We can't wait for the third period. We've got to bring that when the puck drops."

Arizona shut the door for good with an empty-netter by Jon Landry with 51 seconds left, after Beaudry had been pulled for an extra attacker.

The loss dropped Rapid City (8-11-7) from second to third place in the Northwest Division standings. The Rocky Mountain Rage moved up after a 6-2 win over New Mexico on Friday, and fourth-place Wichita also closed the gap, after handing Tulsa a 6-3 setback on Friday.

The Sundogs improve to 12-17-1, and solidifies their hold on second place in the Southwest Division, trailing Odessa.

Rapid City and Arizona square off again at 7:05 p.m. today.