GAME PREVIEW: STEELHEADS vs RUSH 11/27/15

Regular Season Game 16-November 27, 2015

Where We Left Off: Gone Fishing – Cody Ferriero scored two power play goals, Chris Ciotti added his second in as many nights, and Destry Straight provided the game-winner on a shorthanded tally as the Rapid City Rush defeated the Idaho Steelheads by a 4-1 score on Wednesday night. For the first time in five games, the Rush surrendered the first goal of the contest. On a pass from Zack Kamrass, Colton Beck, Idaho’s leading scorer, banked his ninth goal of the season off of the skate of a Rush defenseman in front of the net of Rush rookie net-minder, Marek Langhamer, and past him, giving the Steelheads the 1-0 lead with 8:50 gone by in the first (Kamrass had the lone assist). Less than three minutes later, the Rush capitalized on their second power play of the game and tied things up. On a set passing play, Mikhail Stefanovich found Cody Ferriero, who ripped a one-timer by Steelheads goaltender Maxime Lagace to even the score at 1-1 with 8:41 left in the period (Stefanovich and Sean Erickson recorded the assists). In the second period, it was all Rapid City as they scored in every way you could think. Destry Straight kicked off the scoring entries in the middle frame with his third goal of the season, shorthanded, at the 5:57 mark of the period. On Idaho’s second power play of the game, Zach Cohen found the rookie forward, who backhanded the shot by Lagace to give the Rush a 2-1 lead (Cohen had the lone assist). With 8:33 left in the second, Chris Ciotti scored his second goal in as many nights, beating Lagace top shelf within short range to extend the Rush advantage to 3-1 (Spencer Pommells and Jonathan Narbonne received the assists). Rounding out the scoring entries of the middle act of the performance and the game was Cody Ferriero, who wowed the Rush faithful as he dangled past everyone on the Steelheads penalty kill, scoring a highlight-reel worthy goal, advancing the score to what would be a 4-1 final score (the goal was unassisted).

Two Is Better Than One – For the fifth time this season, the Rush managed to capitalize on the man-advantage, but doubled up on their luck on Wednesday night as they scored two power play goals in a game for the first time this season. Cody Ferriero was responsible for both ignitions of the goal lamp against the Steelheads on Wednesday, burying a series of passes from Mikhail Stefanovich and Sean Erickson, and dangling through two-thirds of the ice only to finish top shelf to conclude a highlight-reel worthy individual effort. In the last three games, the Rush power play is smoking hot at 42.8% (3/7).

Ci-Ci’s Delivers Now – One of the most special parts of a season is to see a rookie player come into his own in the professional ranks as a season progresses. Lake Superior State alum Chris Ciotti has done just that, breaking out in this month of November. He’s played in all but the first games two of the team’s games in this month (6 games), and is just shy of a point-per-game pace in that span. On Wednesday night, Ciotti scored his second goal in as many nights, giving him 3 points in his last 2 games played. He has 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points and a +3 rating in November.

Short Order Cooks – Wednesday night marked the second time this season that the Rush scored shorthanded, with both goals coming on home ice. Joining Taylor Doherty in accomplishing this feat is Destry Straight, who became just the third rookie in Rush history to score a shorthanded goal on Wednesday night as he buried a backhander past Maxime Lagace. It was also the game-Winning%20Goal, marking the eighth time in team history that the Rush won a game on a “shorty”, and the second time that the Rush have won two games in a season and in the same month by shorthanded goals.

CRUNCHING NUMBERS: vs the Steelheads – With Thanksgiving just passing by, let’s give thanks for some awesome numbers and statistics from the previous game against Idaho:

• .978 – the save percentage of Rush rookie Marek Langhamer against the Steelheads on Wednesday night. Langhamer is responsible for seeing the highest volume of shots in a single game this season TWICE, seeing 46 on Wednesday and 49 in his pro debut on November 7th. His 45 saves on Wednesday are the most by a Rush goaltender this season.
• 5 – the increase in percentage points of the Rush power play on home ice. Rapid City came into Wednesday’s game with an 18.8% power play at home (12th in the ECHL), and saw it skyrocket to 23.8% (now 7th in the league). Additionally, the team’s overall power play advanced from 10.5% (27th out of 28 ECHL teams) to 14% (now 21st)

WE’RE GOING STREAKING! – Two Rush players carry a statistical streak into tonight’s second of three matchups against Idaho:

• Zach Cohen – has points in his last four games (3 G, 2 Ast, 5 Pts)
• Cody Ferriero – has points in his last three games (2 G, 3 Ast, 5 Pts)