Edmonton Rush at Colorado Mammoth

April 17, 2008 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release


Edmonton, AB--The Edmonton Rush will make a last-ditch effort towards reaching the National Lacrosse League playoffs this weekend when they play a home-and-home series with their West Division rival the Colorado Mammoth.

The two teams have not played each other since the Rush's season opener - a 14-11 loss in Denver which dropped Edmonton's all-time record against Colorado to 0-5. That setback was the Rush's closest margin of defeat in five games against the Mammoth having lost by nine and seven goals in their two matchups last season and by five and six goals in two games during the Rush's inaugural season of 2006.

Former Colorado standout Ben Prepchuk had five points for the Rush in his first game against his old club. Since then the teams have changed over their rosters to some degree. In fact, two other players who had five points in that game for the Rush - Mike Accursi and A.J. Shannon - have both since been traded. And the Rush and Mammoth even hooked up in another deal with Edmonton sending former Colorado star Chris Gill back to Denver in exchange for a first-round draft pick.

The Rush had tried to inch closer to a playoff spot last weekend and were riding a two-game winning streak heading into back-to-back contests against Calgary and San Jose. But the Rush were handed two straight losses to fall back into the West Division basement, ½ game behind both Calgary and Portland for the fourth and final playoff berth. With their victory over Edmonton, the Stealth clinched a playoff berth alongside Colorado.

The two losses were the worst of the season for the Rush as they fell 18-7 in Calgary, surrendering the most goals in game in a franchise history. Dan Stroup led the Rush attack with four goals and one assist while Mike Hominuck supplied one goal and four assists. It was a rough night for both Rush goaltenders as Curtis Palidwor, who was the NLL's Overall Player of the Month for Month, and Matt King managed just 25 saves.

One night later, the Rush tied another team record - this time for fewest goals scored in a game as they fell 14-6 to the Stealth. Hominuck and Randy Daly both scored twice for the Rush and Palidwor returned to net and faced 50 shots.

There is a logjam at the top of the Rush scoring chart as Dan Teat has moved into first place with 44 points including two goals and eight assists with the Rush since coming in a trade from Buffalo. Mike Hominuck is next at 43 with 22 of those points (10 goals, 12 assists) coming in six games with the Rush since a trade from Minnesota. And original Rush member Jimmy Quinlan sits third with 42 including a team-leading 20 goals.

Dan Stroup is second on the Rush with 19 goals and Lindsay Plunkett is third with 17 with six of those coming since a trade from Chicago. Teat leads the Rush with 31 assists while Chris McElroy and Ian Hawksbee share the team lead with 88 loose balls.

Coming off a difficult weekend, goaltender Curtis Palidwor has dropped from third to ninth in the NLL with an 11.78 goals-against average and his save-percentage has dipped from second to 10th at .755.

Edmonton's power play is ranked 11th in the league at 36.9% (24-for-65) while the penalty-killing sits last in the league at 41.9% (25 goals allowed in 43 shorthanded situations). The Rush have allowed two shorthanded goals and Rory Glaves has scored the team's lone shorthanded goal.

Colorado's power play is fourth in the NLL at a 44.4% clip (40-for-90) while the Mammoth's penalty-killing is 10th at 50.7% (37 goals allowed in 75 shorthanded situations). The Mammoth have scored six shorthanded goals and have given up five shorthanded markers.



National Lacrosse League Stories from April 17, 2008


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