GAME NOTES: 1/26 vs WICHITA

REGULAR SEASON GAME  FORTY-FOUR- 1/26/2020

Rapid City Rush vs Wichita Thunder - 4:05 p.m. MDT

Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Ice Arena

THIS SEASON

Wichita: 46gp, 19-19-8-0, 46pts (5th Mountain)

• Last Game - 1/25 @ Rapid City (7-4 W)

Rush: 43gp, 23-17-3-0, 49pts (4th Mountain)

• Last Game - 1/25 vs Wichita (7-4 L)

HEAD TO HEAD - 7 of 10 Games Played

Wichita: 3-3-1-0, 7pts

• Power Play: 16.1% (5/31)
• Penalty Kill: 72.2% (26/36)
• Leading Scorer(s): Jason Salvaggio (9gp*, 1g-6ast-7pts)

Rush: 4-3-0-0, 8pts

• Power Play: 27.8% (10/36)
• Penalty Kill: 83.9% (26/31)
• Leading Scorer(s): Keeghan Howdeshell (7gp, 1g-9ast-10pts)

NOTES

RARE OCCASION: For a second time this season, 2020 Western Conference All-Star Brennan Saulnier struck three times in a contest, giving the Rush their fourth hat trick of the season through 43 games. The rare instance in this situation is the outcome: last night was just the third time in Rush history that the team lost when a player recorded a hat trick. Most recently, Pierre-Luc Mercier notched a hat trick in a 6-5 loss to the Idaho Steelheads on New Year’s Eve last season. Jesse Schultz was the first to endure such an occasion back on January 5, 2013 at Allen, earning his three goals in a 5-4 defeat.

THIRD PERIOD WOES: Despite the outstanding success of the Rush this season, the team has struggled in the third period, especially in recent memory. In this weekend alone, even though the Rush have split the first two games of the series, they’ve been outscored 7-1 in the final 20 minutes of regulation this weekend. Even further back, dating to the Cincinnati portion of last week’s road trip, the Rush have been outscored 14-1 in the last period, with two of those frames seeing the opposition score 5 goals in the frame. Over the course of the season through 43 games, the Rush have been outscored 67-44 in the third period. To put this in perspective, the combined goal differential of the Rush in in their favor at +14 (85-71 overall; 38-30 in the 1st, 47-41 in the 2nd).

STILL VERY SPECIAL: Even though last night was a tough loss, the Rush can take solace in the fact that their power play has resurfaced, and their penalty kill has been consistent. In this series alone, the Rush have 5 power play goals in two games, going 5/15 in that span (33.3%). Even further back, the Rush have power play goals in 4 of their last 6 games, with the Rush posting 2 or more power play goals in three of them, including two 3-goal showings. On the defensive side, the Rush have been perfect on the penalty-kill in 8 of their last 10 games, and have killed off all penalties in five consecutive games. Currently, the Rush’s penalty-killing streak is at 16 in a row.

WE’RE GOING STREAKING!: Two Rush players carry streaks into the final game of this weekend’s series, and the final matchup in Rapid City against the Thunder this season:

• Keeghan Howdeshell - has points in four straight games (4gp, 2g-5ast-7pts)
• Jalen Smereck - has points in three straight games (3gp, 1g-3ast-4pts)