GAME NOTES: 3/9 vs Wichita

Game #55 vs Wichita

3/9/23 | The Monument Ice Arena | 7:05 p.m.

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LAST TIME OUT: The Rapid City Rush fell in an early 3-0 hole, scored four straight to take a 4-3 lead, but ultimately were beaten by the Allen Americans 7-5 on Sunday afternoon at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center. Keanu Yamamoto and Alex Aleardi each had a goal and an assist in the loss.

PUTTING UP POINTS: Matt Marcinew scored in the second period on Sunday afternoon, his fourth consecutive game with a goal. Marcinew has points in five consecutive games and has four goals and two assists during that stretch.

COMING IN COLD: Wichita enters Thursday’s game winless in its last seven outings. The Thunder have earned just one point in the past seven games, an overtime loss to Utah on Friday. The Thunder are just 1-9-2-0 in their past 11 games. At the outset of that stretch of games, Wichita was 25-17-3-0 and had 53 points. The Thunder were in second place in the Mountain Division, 17 points behind first-place Idaho and eight points clear of third-place Kansas City. Wichita is now in a tie for third and trails first-place Idaho by 32 points.

NIGHT AND DAY: The Rush are 2-6-0-0 against the Thunder thus far this season, having gone 2-1-0-0 at home against the Thunder but 0-5-0-0 in Wichita. The Thunder average 2.67 goals per game during games in Rapid City and six goals per game in home games against the Rush.

NEW FACES: Rapid City made a trade on Tuesday as it acquired defenseman Jason Horvath from the Trois-Rivieres Lions in exchange for defenseman Ryan Zuhlsdorf. Horvath has appeared in 16 games for Trois-Rivieres and has a goal and four assists. The Rush also signed forward Blake Bennett on Tuesday. Bennett recently completed his college career at American International College. During his senior season in 2022-23, he recorded 22 goals and 13 assists over 38 games and let AIC in both goals and points. It was his second consecutive season with at least 20 goals and his second straight year leading the Yellow Jackets in both goals and points.

ODDS AND ENDS: The Rush went 2-for-4 on the penalty kill on Sunday and have now allowed a power play goal in five consecutive outings and in 15 of their past 16 games...Wichita’s roster features three players who suited up for the Rush in the 2021-22 season; Kyle Rhodes, Jake Wahlin and Brett Van Os...in six games against the Rush, Michal Stinil has six goals and nine assists. He leads the Thunder with 25 goals, 36 assists and 61 points.

UP NEXT: Rapid City and Wichita will meet again on Friday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at The Monument Ice Arena.