Game #72 vs Idaho
4/15/23 | The Monument Ice Arena | 7:05 p.m.
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LAST TIME OUT: Logan Nelson scored on the power play in the third period to put the Rush on the board but Rapid City ultimately was beaten by the Idaho Steelheads 4-1 on Friday night at The Monument Ice Arena. The Rush had their six-game point streak snapped and were eliminated from playoff contention in the loss.
ALL SHE WROTE: Rapid City’s loss combined with wins by the Utah Grizzlies and Kansas City Mavericks on Friday have eliminated the Rush from postseason contention. The maximum amount of points Rapid City can finish the season with is 72. Utah and the Wichita Thunder are tied for fourth place with 72 points. The primary tiebreaker is regulation wins, of which Utah has 29, Rapid City has 26 and Wichita has 24. The Rush own the tiebreaker over Wichita but Utah has it over both Rapid City and Wichita. Therefore, even in the event of a Rush win and regulation losses from both Utah and Wichita, the Rush can finish no higher than fifth place.
CREAM OF THE CROP: Idaho enters play on Saturday having clinched both the Mountain Division and the Brabham Cup, given annually to the team with the best record in the ECHL. With their win on Friday, the Steelheads have set ECHL records in wins with 57 and in points with 117. They eclipsed the marks that had been set by the 2001-02 Louisiana IceGators, who went 56-12-4 and finished with 116 points..
BUT THEY’RE GETTABLE: The Rush and Steelheads have played seven times in Rapid City this season and the Rush own a 4-3-0-0 record in those seven games. They are responsible for three of Idaho’s 11 regulation losses and one of its two shootout losses.
IN FINALES: The Rush conclude the 2022-23 season on Saturday night. Last season, they beat the Tulsa Oilers 5-2 in the final game of the regular season. Over the past five years, the Rush are 3-2-0-0 in finales and 2-1-0-0 when the last game of the season is played at home.
ODDS AND ENDS: Keegan Iverson recorded 26 penalty minutes on Friday night, the most by a Rush in a single game this season. Iverson leads Rapid City with 132 PIMS on the season...both Alex Aleardi and Max Coatta have played in all 71 of Rapid City’s games this season. Keanu Yamamoto has appeared in 70 of the 71 to date.
UP NEXT: The Rush conclude their season tonight. Idaho will move on to the Kelly Cup Playoffs. The Steelheads are the top seed in the Mountain Division and will face either the Kansas City Mavericks, the Utah Grizzlies or the Wichita Thunder, pending the outcome of Saturday’s games.
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