GAME #44 at Wichita
2/5/23 | INTRUST Bank Arena | 2:05 p.m. CT
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LAST TIME OUT: Brett Gravelle and Carter Robertson scored and the Rush put a season-high 51 shots on goal but Rapid City was beaten by the Wichita Thunder 6-2 on Saturday night at INTRUST Bank Arena. The Rush lost their fourth-consecutive game.
IT’S HARD NOT BEING HOME: Rapid City’s loss on Saturday was its fourth consecutive road loss and dropped its season-long road record to 8-15-1-0. The Rush are 0-4-0-0 in Wichita this season. Rapid City is 12-7-0-0 on home ice and 2-1-0-0 at home against Wichita.
SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS!: The Rush fired 51 shots on goal during Saturday’s loss, the most shots they have had in a single game this season. The previous high was 49, during an 8-2 win over the Allen Americans on December 3. It was the most shots the Rush have had in a game since shooting 51 times in a 3-1 loss at Wichita on February 28, 2021.
THE SEASON SERIES: Rapid City and Wichita will meet a total of 13 times this season, with six games being played in Rapid City and seven in Wichita. The Rush won the first two games of the season series but have now lost five consecutive games to Wichita.
TROUBLE WITH THE PK: In seven games against the Thunder, the Rush have been shorthanded 33 times and killed off 21 of those power plays, good for a 63.6% success rate. In the last two games the Rush and Thunder have played, Rapid City is 4-for-10 on the penalty kill. Wichita has at least one power play goal in six of the seven games the two have played this season.
BITING THE HAND THAT FED: Former Rush defenseman Kyle Rhodes scored twice and handed out one assist for Wichita during its 6-2 win on Saturday. They were his first two goals of the season. Rhodes had five assists in 37 games before Saturday’s game. Former Rush forward Brett Van Os also chipped in with a goal and three assists for the Thunder on Saturday. Four points was a career-high for Van Os, who played 33 games and had eight goals and 12 assists for the Rush in 2021-22.
ODDS AND ENDS: Wichita’s Peter Bates had a hat trick on Saturday night. Rapid City has now allowed two hat tricks in its last three games. Utah’s Brandon Cutler also had a hat trick on January 27...Rapid City is 2-0-0-0 in Sunday games this season... Michal Stinil did not record a point on Saturday but has four goals and eight assists in five games against the Rush.
UP NEXT: Rapid City will return home for the first of five consecutive games on home ice on Friday night against the Utah Grizzlies. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at The Monument Ice Arena.
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