(RIO RANCHO, N.M.)—The Rapid City Rush (4-2-0), proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Calgary Flames, look to remain undefeated against the New Mexico Goatheads (1-3-3) in their first-ever series. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. MDT on Saturday at Rio Rancho Events Center.

WATCH | LISTEN | GAME NOTES

LAST TIME OUT
The Rapid City Rush rallied from two goals down to stun the New Mexico Goatheads in overtime, 4-3, at Rio Rancho Events Center last night. Jake Ratzlaff banged home the game winner 1:46 into overtime, a one-timer from the deep slot for his first goal of the season. New Mexico started out strong and the Rush struggled to find their footing over the first half of the game. The Goatheads built leads of 2-0 and 3-1 late in the second period. Quinn Olson opened the Rush’s scoring, Ryan Wagner cut the lead to 3-2, and Ryan Hofer forced overtime with a game-tying goal early in the third.

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
Not only did the Rush score three straight times to pick up a series-opening victory, two players involved in the rally each had three-point nights. Linemates Quinn Olson and Ryan Wagner tallied a goal and two assists. Those two men have been road warriors thus far, with 13 of their 14 combined points coming away from home.

START NUMBER ONE, WIN NUMBER ONE
Last night’s comeback made a winner out of Brett Mirwald, who earned the victory in his Rush debut with 23 saves on 26 shots. Mirwald, acquired off waivers from the Allen Americans last Wednesday, improves to 6-0-1 in his regular season career between Allen and Rapid City. With Owen Say called up to Calgary and Semyon Konopsky on injured reserve, the Rush are rolling with their two ECHL-contracted goaltenders in New Mexico.

TWO GAMES INTO ONE
If you split last night’s game into two even segments, you would see a completely different Rush group in both halves. Rapid City started slow out of the gates, but the pair of power play goals late in the second period woke the offense up. The Rush controlled the vast majority of play and outshot New Mexico 37-16 from the second period on.

STRONGER BY THE PERIOD
This team’s knack to improve their play over the course of games showed itself once again last night. Over the last four games, the Rush have outshot their opposition 109-68 since the start of the second period and outscored them, 9-8.

SUCCESSFUL LINE SHUFFLING
With the Rush’s top two lines having lost their stride over the last couple of games, Dave Smith revitalized them with one simple switch in the second period. Rapid City swapped the right wing positions, putting Seth Fyten with Wagner and Olson, while Alex Young joined Hofer and Sikic. The impact was immediate, with those forward lines combining for eight points (3g+5a) in the win.

605 > 505
Last night was the Rush’s first meeting with the Goatheads, and Rapid City’s first trip to Rio Rancho since March 6, 2009, when they faced the New Mexico Scorpions. It was also their first win in the Land of Enchantment. Between regular season and playoffs, the Rush have now recorded at least one victory in 20 different states in franchise history.

GOOD LUCK, FELLAS!
Due to the domino effect from multiple injuries in the Calgary system, the Wranglers summoned Owen Say and Kyle Walker north of the border ahead of yesterday’s series-opener, the first call-up of the season for both. Arsenii Sergeev took Devin Cooley’s place on the big club and backed up during the Flames’ victory against Seattle last night.

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