GAME NOTES: February 10 - Kansas City Mavericks at Rush

(RAPID CITY, S.D.) - The Rapid City Rush, proud affiliate of the NHL's Calgary Flames, finish their two-game set with the Kansas City Mavericks tonight at 7:05 p.m. from The Monument. 

The Rush will first host a charity game at 1 p.m. today featuring Calgary Flames and Rapid City Rush alumni players against local men's leaguers. After the game, the Stanley Cup will be on display for photos at The Monument Fine Arts Theatre. Following the Stanley Cup viewing, the Rush will host the Flames alumni for a live show starting at 5 p.m.

Your ticket to tonight's 7:05 p.m. Rush/Mavericks game gets you in to every other event throughout the day! 

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AFFILIATION NIGHT BRINGS MASSIVE GAME TO R.C.

The Rapid City Rush, proud affiliate of the NHL’s Calgary Flames, square off the Seattle Kraken’s ECHL affiliate, the Kansas City Mavericks, in a game that has massive division impact. The Rush are three points out of the playoffs entering tonight’s game as Kansas City owns the league’s top spot. The Rush are 1-4-1 against Kansas City this year, but three of those losses have come by just a single goal. 

DOING IT IN FRONT OF LEGENDS

Five Calgary Flames alumni players will be in attendance for tonight’s game, and all the festivities leading up to puck drop. Curtis Glencross, Mike Commodore, and Brian McGrattan represent the Flames of the modern era of hockey, while Tim Hunter and Joel Otto both played on the Flames 1989 championship team. Hunter coached against Rapid City Rush Head Coach Scott Burt during their shared time in the WHL (Hunter in Moose Jaw and Burt in Spokane). Joel Otto was the assistant coach for the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen where he coached Rush defenseman Kenton Helgesen.

WE’RE GOING STREAKIN’

Simon Boyko now has a goal in his last four games for the Rush. Not to be outdone, Logan Nelson, who had an assist on Boyko’s goal last night – has extended his point streak to seven games now for Rapid City. 

KILLING IT

The Rush penalty kill held Kansas City scoreless in yesterday’s game. The 3-for-3 group has not allowed a powerplay goal in six of their last seven games as their percentage has them trending in the right direction heading down the stretch in the season. At one point, the Rush penalty kill was ranked 27^th in the league and has bolstered itself to now 16^th. 

LORD STANLEY RETURNS TO RAPID CITY

The Stanley Cup returns to Rapid City for the first time in over 10 years tonight. The Cup will be on display from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at The Monument Fine Arts Theatre for fans to take photos with. The Stanley Cup is just part of a string of celebrations during Affiliation Night, with emphasis on celebrating the 35^th anniversary of the 1989 Flames championship team. 

GARRETT KLOTZ ON TRACK FOR 600

Kansas City Mavericks forward Garrett Klotz is set to skate in his 600^th North American professional hockey game tonight. Klotz played parts of five seasons with the Rapid City Rush, including serving as an alternate captain during the 2021-22 campaign. Klotz logged an assist on Nolan Walker’s goal last night.

SHOOTING GALLERY

While the Rush only broke through Jack LaFontaine once in yesterday’s game, the team outshot the Mavericks in every period yesterday and outshot Kansas City 40-32 overall. The Rush lost their only other game when outshooting the Mavericks this year on November third, by a 3-0 score (shots, 28-20 RC).

CHARITY GAME

The Rush and Flames alumni players will square off against local men’s league players at 1 p.m. this afternoon. Included in the Rush/Flames alumni team are Scott Burt, Peter Drikos, and Danny Battochio from the Rush coaching staff. Burt is a top-ten scorer in Idaho Steelheads history and won three ECHL championships in his career. Drikos was a FHL champion with the Akwesasne Warriors, and Battochio was a CHL champion with the Rush. 

RUSH LOOK TO SPLIT SERIES WITH MAVERICKS

As part of the Mountain Division scheduling, the Rush don’t often see teams for back-to-back games without a deciding game three. Rapid City has not split a two-game series this season. The Rush defeated Iowa in back-to-back games to start the year, but fell to Kansas City both time the following week and lost back-to-back to Idaho on January 19 and 20. After this weekend’s games, the Rush have one two-game stand left… in Kansas City against the Mavericks.

DILLON KELLEY FACES OLD TEAM

Mavericks goaltender Dillon Kelley is 15-2-0 this season. Kelley was a standout for the Rapid City Rush in 2021-22 when he posted a 9-2 record in 14 appearances, and earned his first career AHL callup to the Henderson Silver Knights. Kelley went from the SPHL to the AHL in the span of one season that year.

HOME ICE IS STILL ON YOUR SIDE

With now 27 games left to go in the season, the Rush play 16 at home and only 11 on the road. The schedule breaks down as three left against Kansas City, three in Greenville, six against Idaho and Utah, three against Allen, Savannah, and Wichita.