WHAT'S THE RUSH?-November 3rd

Rush Stat Leaders

• Goals – Kyle Stroh – 4

• Assists – Dylan Clarke – 6

• Points – Dylan Clarke – 9

• Plus/Minus – Winston Day Chief/Sean Erickson/Alex Szczechura - +2

• PIM – Daniel Barczuk – 23

The Upcoming Week

RAPID CITY RUSH (3-3-1, 7 Pts-T-1st Central Division) @ WICHITA THUNDER (2-1-2, 6 Pts-3rd Central Division)

Friday November 7th, 6:05 p.m. MST at Intrust Bank Arena

RAPID CITY RUSH @ MISSOURI MAVERICKS (1-3-0, 2 Pts-6th Central Division)

Saturday November 8th, 6:05 p.m. MST at Independence Event Center

The Week That Was

---October 28th-QUAD CITY MALLARDS-4, RAPID CITY RUSH-1 (QC-9 Players with 1 Point, B. Dieude Fauvel-G, Ast)

Tuesday night at Premier Home Mortgage Ice in Rushmore Plaza Civic Center saw the Rapid City Rush and the Quad City Mallards play for the third time in five nights. After the Rush split the weekend series and took three of a possible four points, roles on the ice were reversed as the Mallards flew to a 4-1 win over the Rush thanks to a 2-point night for Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel and 27/28 saves from Parker Milner in Rapid City. After Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel scored in the 1st to give the Flock a 1-0 lead, Mike Monfredo added to it with 43.7 seconds left in the second, squeaking a goal by savage to give the Mallards a 2-0 advantage with 20 minutes left to play. Jeff Lee unassisted gave the Mallards a 3-0 lead midway through the third, but rookie Alex Szczechura ended Milner’s shutout and scored his first professional goal to put the Rush on the board. Shortly after, Kevin Baker sent his shot into an empty-net, ultimately leading to a 4-1 Rush loss.

---October 31st-ALLEN AMERICANS-4, RAPID CITY RUSH-1 (ALN-J. Combs and I. Schultz-2G, Ast Each; RC-A. Szczechura-1st Pro Goal)

Clad in their Halloween specialty jerseys, The Rapid City Rush took on the Allen Americans on Halloween night. A hot start for the Americans ultimately stifled the Rush’s chances of a Halloween victory, as a 2:48 scoring rally 6:32 into the game led by Ian Schultz and Jack Combs, along with a 37/38 save night for Riley Gill powered the Americans to a 4-1 win in the Black Hills. Ian Schultz and Jack Combs traded the first three goals between each other on the first five shots of the game, warranting a goaltending substitution just over six and a half minutes into the game. Down 3-0 early after 20 minutes of play, Joey Sides scored his second power play goal of the season to put the Rush on the board at 3-1, but shortly after his strike was answered by Jack Comb’s second of the night to give the Americans a 4-1 lead. Despite 10 total power plays and over 2:30 of continuous five-on-three hockey in favor of the Rush at the start of the third, the Rush couldn’t solve Riley Gill, ultimately leading to their 4-1 defeat.

---November 1st-RAPID CITY RUSH-4, ALLEN AMERICANS-2 (RC-D.Clarke-G, 3 Ast, PP-2/5)

With a new month beginning, the Rapid City Rush and the Allen Americans engaged in a rematch of the previous evening. Led by a stellar special teams effort and a 4-point night by Dylan Clarke, the Rush handed the Americans their first road loss of the season, taking care of their old CHL rivals by a 4-2 score. The Rush power play racked up 2 goals on their first 2 appearances of the game, with Landon Oslanski and J.P. Chabot sending home rebounds past Riley Gill to give the Rush an early 2-0 lead. Kyle Stroh added to the Rush lead in the 2nd, but Tyler Ludwig cut the advantage to 3-1 midway through the third. The Americans, needing 6 people on the power play to finally break the Rush penalty kill unit, came within striking distance as Jack Combs scored with an extra attacker, but was answered 25 seconds later by Dylan Clarke and his 4th point of the game to give the Rush a much needed 4-2 win.

Notes and Numbers

Blue Ribbon Blue Line – The cliché, but truthful saying in sports these days is “A great Defense is a great Offense”. The Rush are the perfect example of this saying, as their blue-line has sheltered a massive offensive load in the early stages of the season. Through 7 games, 5 Rush defensemen have combined for 2 goals and 10 assists for 12 points, roughly making up 23.1% of the team’s point total of 52. Landon Oslanski and Brandon Martell have the only goals, while Sean Erickson (tied for the league-lead in shots amongst defensemen with 25), Steve Kaunisto, and Brett Kostolansky each have at least one assist (Erickson, Kaunisto, and Oslanksi have 3 Ast each).

Clarke Shines – Rush forward Dylan Clarke had an outstanding week for the Rush, and had a big hand in securing a much needed victory on Saturday night. Now the team leader in assists (6) and points (9), Clarke added a tally and 4 helpers in 3 games played this weekend, re-establishing his point-per-game-plus pace for the season.

CRUNCHING NUMBERS – Last Week vs the Mallards and Americans

• 1 – the number of power play goals allowed all week (and at home the entire season so far for that matter). The Rush PK went a whopping 10/11 through all three games this week, with their lone power play goal against coming at the hands of the Americans on Saturday night. The best power play in the ECHL in the Americans was stifled all weekend, and ultimately needed an extra player to FINALLY break the Rush man-down unit. Coming in at a 41.7% scoring clip, the Americans dropped 11.7% after just two games to 30%, still best in the ECHL. Through 7 games this season, the Rush PK has only allowed 2 PPG against, ranking 5th in the entire ECHL at an even 92% (23/25).

• 95 – the Rush shot total through the three-game set this last week. The Rush currently average 32.9 shots per game, and have scored an average of 2.74 goals per game, leading to roughly an 8.3% scoring percentage.