Rush on the Road to Philly Saturday, February 8
February 5, 2014 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release
Edmonton, AB---The Edmonton Rush put their six-game undefeated start to the 2014 NLL season on the line Saturday night with a rare visit to Philadelphia to battle the Wings.
This will be just the fifth all-time meeting between the two teams and just the second in Philadelphia since the Rush joined the NLL in 2006, and the clubs have split the previous four games with two wins apiece.
The Rush are the hottest club in the NLL after improving their franchise-best start to a season last week with a dramatic 8-7 OT victory over the Rochester Knighthawks last Saturday night at Rexall Place in Edmonton. Mark Matthews, the reigning NLL Rookie of the Year, scored the game-winner just 1:16 into overtime which gave the Rush their third home-floor victory of the season. Edmonton leads the NLL's West Division by three games over Calgary, while Philadelphia moved into third in the East, two games behind Buffalo, with a 15-9 win over Vancouver last Saturday.
While Edmonton's offense has been clipping right along at over 12 goals per game, it's the Rush's defense that is standing tall early in the year. The Rush have allowed a league-low 39 goals-against through five games and goaltender Aaron Bold is tops in the NLL with a stellar 8.19 goals-against average.
The Rush and Wings have not met since the 2012 campaign when they split games in each other's home arena. Edmonton notched a 12-10 victory at Rexall Place as nine different scorers found the back of the net led by Zack Greer's hat trick. Three weeks later at the Wells Fargo Center, Mike Hominuck tallied 12 points including nine assists as the Wings returned the favor with a 16-15 home-turf victory. Shawn Williams helped the Rush's attack with nine points including seven assists while Tom Johnson, Ryan Ward, and Scott Evans all had hat tricks for the Rush.
The Rush's best result against the Wings came in Edmonton's home-opener to the 2007 season. After going winless at home in their inaugural season, the Rush finally managed a home victory as home-town hero Jimmy Quinlan scored five goals and Chris Gill notched four goals and four assists in a 13-12 Rush win. A seven-goal fourth quarter paced the Rush to the win and Pat Campbell supplied 39 saves in the Rush net.
Mark Matthews leads the Rush in scoring so far this season with 28 points, six up on Jarrett Davis. Matthews and Davis are tied for the team lead in assists with 16, while Matthews and Curtis Knight are tied for the team lead in goals with 12.
Rush vs. Wings - Season-by-Season Glance
2012
16-15 Wings win at Philadelphia (Mike Hominuck scored three goals plus nine assists for 12-point game)
12-10 Rush win at Edmonton (Zack Greer leads Edmonton with hat trick)
2009
19-14 Wings win at Edmonton (Merrick Thompson scores six goals)
2007
13-12 Rush win at Edmonton (Jimmy Quinlan scores five goals in Rush's first-ever home-turf victory)
Overtime Overdrive: Last Saturday's victory over Rochester evened the Rush's all-time regular-season overtime record to 7-7. The Rush have had at least one overtime game in every year of existence with the busiest and most successful OT run coming in 2010 when they went 3-1 with victories over Rochester, Washington and Minnesota, and a lone loss to Calgary. The Rush have tangled with Calgary the most in overtime with four games going to extra time. Edmonton has also played into overtime three times against both Rochester and Minnesota.
Statistically Speaking: On the heels of goaltending battle between Rochester's Matt Vinc and Edmonton's Aaron Bold, there's another in store for the Rush. Bold and his league-leading GAA and four victories (second in the NLL) faces Philadelphia's Evan Kirk is third in both goals-against average (10.85) and total saves (228) ... The Rush have outscored their opposition 29-19 in second-half action this season ... Edmonton's power-play, which went 2-for-4 against Rochester, is at 48.3% (14-for-29) on the season, while the penalty-killing sits at 66.7% (12 kills in 18 shorthanded situations) ... Ryan Ward, the Rush's single-season points record-holder, joined Philadelphia in the off-season and is tied for first in the NLL with 23 assists.
By The Numbers: Rookie Robert Church moved into second spot on the Rush with 11 assists so far this season ... Zack Greer, who left Saturday's game against Rochester with an injury, is still second on the Rush with 10 goals ... Curtis Knight and Mark Matthews are tied for tops on the Rush with four power-play goals ... Chris Corbeil leads the Rush with 42 loose balls, six up on Jeremy Thompson ... NLL Defensive Player of the Year Kyle Rubisch and Brett Mydske are tied atop the Rush with nine forced turnovers, one ahead of Jeremy Thompson ... On the dot so far this season, Jeremy Thompson is at 49.1% (56-for-114) ... Former Rush Brodie Merrill leads Philadelphia and is fourth in the league with 60 loose balls.
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National Lacrosse League Stories from February 5, 2014
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- Philadelphia Wings Play Final Back-To-Back Series of Season February 7-8 - Philadelphia Wings
- Rush on the Road to Philly Saturday, February 8 - Edmonton Rush
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