GAME NOTES: 11/20 vs TULSA

REGULAR SEASON GAME SEVENTEEN - 11/20/2019

Rapid City Rush vs Tulsa Oilers - 7:05 p.m. MDT

Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Ice Arena

THIS SEASON

Tulsa: 17gp, 7-9-1-0, 15pts (5th Mountain)

• Last Game - 11/16 vs Idaho (4-3 W)

Rush: 16gp, 9-5-2-0, 20pts (T-2nd Mountain)

• Last Game - 11/16 @ Kansas City (10-1 L)

HEAD TO HEAD - 5 of 12 Games Played

Tulsa: 1-4-0-0 (2pts)

• Power Play: 9.1% (2/22)
• Penalty Kill: 71% (22/31)
• Leading Scorer(s): J.J. Piccinich (5gp, 2g-3ast-5pts)

Rush: 4-1-0-0 (8pts)

• Power Play: 29% (9/31)
• Penalty Kill: 90.9% (20/22)
• Leading Scorer(s): Giovanni Fiore (5gp, 4g-5ast-9pts)

NOTES

'O SOLE MIO: Even though that’s the name of the song expertly performed by opera legend Luciano Pavarotti, it also describes the Rush offense from Saturday night: one goal. Peter Quenneville provided the lone goal in the loss to Kansas City. Through 16 games, its only the second time all season that the Rush have not scored more than one goal. The other instance, besides Saturday, was the team’s 1-0 shutout win over the Idaho Steelheads on November 9th.

TURN THE PAGE: Saturday’s loss to the Mavericks was an unfortunate sight, with the team falling by a 10-1 final score. The 10 goals allowed, along with the 9-goal loss marked new franchise records in each category. Previously, the Rush have only allowed 9 goals in a game twice, both at home: it first happened on February 10, 2017 in a 9-3 loss, and on December 28, 2018 in a 9-1 loss to Idaho. At the end of the day, it only counts as one loss, the sun came up on Sunday, and the Rush are ready for their next home stand, which brings us to our next point...

HOME SWEET HOME: The Rush are one of two teams that are undefeated on home ice this season as they head into their first game against Tulsa tonight. The South Carolina Stingrays are currently 4-0-0-0 at home, while the Rush boast one win more at 5-0-0-0. With a win tonight, the 2019-20 Rapid City Rush will be the first team ever in franchise history to start the defense of their home ice undefeated through 6 games. This is only the second time ever that the Rush have started 5-0-0-0 at home, joining the 2013-14 Rush in the final season of the CHL.

OILED UP: Coming into the renewal of this rivalry against Tulsa, the Rush have won four of the first five games against the Oilers, doing so behind a relentless offense. For starters, in each of the four wins, the Rush have scored 4 or more goals, scoring 5 goals in two of the wins. Additionally, the team is nearly averaging two power play goals per game, having scored 9 in the first five matchups, only held off of the scoresheet in one of those games. Lastly, three different goaltenders have registered wins against Tulsa in the series.