GAME NOTES: February 28 - Savannah Ghost Pirates at Rush

(RAPID CITY, S.D.) - The Rapid City Rush, proud affiliate of the ECHL's Calgary Flames, square off against the Savannah Ghost Pirates for the first time ever on Wednesday night at The Monument. 

The Rush got a massive win on Sunday afternoon against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits and look to capture that same magic at home heading into the final playoff push. 

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RUSH RETURN HOME AFTER BIG WIN IN GREENVILLE

After snapping an eight-game losing skid, the Rush are back home to face the Savannah Ghost Pirates in a three-game set. The series marks the first time Savannah and Rapid City have met, with the Ghost Pirates opening ECHL only a season ago. The two teams already have ties to each other as Keltie Jeri-Leon was traded to Savannah earlier this year, and the Rush acquired defenseman Adam Eby from the Ghost Pirates less than a month ago. 

FOUR RUSH PLAYERS GET DOUBLE FIGURES IN GREENVILLE

Zack Hoffman, Jimmy Soper, Keanu Yamamoto, and Alex Aleardi led the charge for the Rush against Greenville in Sunday’s win, as each player had a two-point performance. For Hoffman, the two-assist showing marks his second multi-point appearance of the year. Yamamoto logged the game-winning goal and Alex Aleardi leads the team with 10 multi-point outings on the year. Jimmy Soper’s two points included the game-sealing empty net goal against his former team. 

A DIVISION UNLIKE ANY OTHER

The Mountain Division still remains at large for two of its playoff spots. While the Rush are in last place in the division, the final playoff spot is only seven points out of reach, and the third-seed is still gettable at only 12 points out of reach. The Rush have 20 games left in the regular season entering tonight, after the series with Savannah, all games are exclusively in the division until the end of the year.

HOME COOKING

12 of the last 20 games come at home for the Rush. Rapid City was a 20-game winner at home last year and is looking to recapture the magic. The Rush go on a five-game road spell after the Savannah series before returning home to a six-game homestand that features some of the biggest nights of the year, culminating in Military Appreciation Night on March 30.  

HOW RAD

Matt Radomsky stopped 47 pucks in his Sunday win over Greenville, tying a career high in single-game saves he set earlier this season. Radomsky has also appeared in 33 games this season, one shy of matching his collegiate workload at Alaska-Fairbanks last year. Radomsky has earned the lion’s share of Rush wins this year, accruing 13 of the team’s 20 victories.

SCHOLASTIC MAGIC

With collegiate seasons winding down, the Rush hopped into the college ranks to sign forward Parker Bowman yesterday afternoon. Bowman, from Nipissing University in Canada, logged 20 points in 27 games for the Lakers this season, and served as the school’s captain last year. Bowman was also a QMJHL product with Rimouski Oceanic before scoring 88 points in his last junior season with the Powassan VooDoos. Bowman is the first Rush collegiate signing of the season. 

ON THE HIGH “C”

Despite having never played in the South Division while Savannah was around, both team co-captains, Alex Aleardi and Logan Nelson, have played in the ECHL’s South Division. Aleardi won a championship with the Florida Everblades. Nelson played with the Atlanta Gladiators. For Nelson, last Thursday was his 500^th ECHL game. He will have a special video played for him during the first period’s first media timeout this evening. 

ROUGH SEAS FOR SAVANNAH

The Rush are 6-1-0 against team’s outside the playoff picture outside the Mountain Division. Savannah has 43 standings points and sits in sixth place in the ECHL’s South Division currently. The Rush will not see another non-Mountain Division opponent this season. 

SCORE FOUR OR MORE

The Rush have won 15 of their 20 victories this year when scoring more than four goals. The same held true on Sunday. In fact, the Rush have only lost twice this season when scoring four goals, and both of those games came against Idaho. 

WHAT COMES NEXT

Once the Savannah series ends, the Rush have three games against the team their chasing for the final playoff spot, the Utah Grizzlies. The Rush see the Grizzlies more than any other singular opponent to end the year with six meetings. Rapid City is only seven points back of the Grizzlies in the standings.

TRYING TO GET THE MONKEY OFF THE BACK AT HOME

The Rush have lost their last seven games at home, and haven’t won at The Monument since a 9-5 thrashing of the Fort Wayne Komets. The last five Rush home games have come against the top-two teams in the Mountain Division (Kansas City and Idaho), who also happen to be top-five teams in the ECHL.