REGULAR SEASON GAME EIGHT - 11/1/2019

Rapid City Rush @ Allen Americans - 6:05 p.m. MDT

Allen Event Center

THIS SEASON

Allen: 6gp, 4-2-0-0, 6pts (3rd Mountain)

• Last Game - 10/27 vs Idaho (2-1 W/OT)

Rush: 7gp, 5-1-1-0, 11pts (2nd Mountain, 2nd ECHL)

• Last Game - 10/26 vs Utah (4-3 W/SO)

HEAD TO HEAD (1 of 9 Games Played)

Allen: 1-0-0-0 (2pts)

• Power Play: 0% (0/6)
• Penalty Kill: 100% (5/5)
• Leading Scorer(s): Jordan Topping (2goals)

Rush: 0-0-1-0 (1pts)

• Power Play: 0% (0/5)
• Penalty Kill: 100% (6/6)
• Leading Scorer(s): Six Players (1pt)

NOTES

I NEED A HERO: On March 9th of last season, Cedric Montminy stuck a dagger in Utah when he tied the game with 13.6 seconds left, en route to a 3-2 shootout win. Last Saturday, he did it AGAIN. With 1:17 left in regulation, Montminy tucked the game-tying goal within five strides of coming off the bench as the extra-attacker to force a shootout, which he eventually provided the game-winner for in the top of the seventh round.  Last season, Montminy went 1/4 in shootouts, with his lone tally serving as the game-winner at Toledo on January 26th.

FIRST STRIKE: The Rush have made scoring the game’s first goal a consistent habit in the early stages of this season. In seven games played entering this weekend, the team has had the first goal in six games, and when scoring first, are undefeated in regulation at 5-0-1. To put this in perspective on how this looks throughout the league, the Rush are one of 11 teams that are undefeated in regulation after scoring the first goal, but they’re the only team in that category to do so with over 3 games in which they’ve scored first. As a matter, of fact, the Rush are tied for most first-goal-games at 6.

HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER: After Saturday’s exhilarating shootout win over the Grizzlies, the Rush finished the month of October with a 5-1-1-0 record through 7 games. The 11 points in the standings through the first month are the most in team history, and the start is only rivaled by October of 2013 in which the Rush went undefeated at 5-0-0-0 en route to an eventual start of 10-0-0-0 through the middle of November that year.

POINT OUT THE LEADER: Entering this weekend, Rush forward Giovanni Fiore is tied for the league-lead with 12 points, sharing the spot with rookie forward Colt Conrad of the Newfoundland Growlers. Fiore is the last remaining player on the Rush roster to have a point in every game played so far this season. Additionally, Fiore is in a five-way tie for the ECHL lead in power play points, also sharing the spot with fellow teammate Peter Quenneville.

NEAR THE TOP: Entering this weekend, the Rush have accomplished something that they haven’t done since 2013: flirt with the top spot in the standings. The Rush are only second in the entire ECHL to division rival Idaho, who has the Rush edged out by a point. In 2013, the Rush started the season 10-0-0, and had a 20-3-0 record prior to Christmas.

WE’RE GOING STREAKING!: Only two players carry an active streak into tonight’s rematch against the Allen Americans:

• Giovanni Fiore - has assists in five straight, and points in all seven games played (4g-8ast-12pts)
• Tyler Parks - has won three consecutive starts, and is undefeated in regulation through four games (3-0-1-0, 2.16 GAA, .932 SV%)