Rush Playoff Berth in Question

Published on April 18, 2012 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release


Edmonton, AB---The Edmonton Rush will look to secure a spot in the National Lacrosse League playoffs this weekend as they go up against two of their toughest divisional rivals.

Edmonton will open the second-last weekend of play in the 2012 NLL regular season by taking on the Colorado Mammoth in Denver on Friday night before returning home on Saturday night to face the Calgary Roughnecks at Rexall Place. If the Rush are able to win either game, they will be guaranteed at least fourth place and the final berth in the Champion's Cup playoffs. The Rush have taken part in the Champion's Cup playoffs only once in franchise history, reaching the West Division Final in the 2010 campaign.

The Rush can also clinch a berth if Washington loses one of its last two games. Edmonton trails Minnesota by 1½ games in the West Division standings but the Rush have one game in-hand on the Swarm. Colorado, Calgary, and Minnesota have all clinched spots in the Champion's Cup playoffs. The Roughnecks are one-half game behind the Mammoth and 3½ games up on the Swarm.

To make that playoff berth happen, the Rush will need to end a pair of streaks against the Mammoth and Roughnecks - the two best teams in the NLL so far this season. While Edmonton and Colorado have split the last 10 games with five wins apiece, Colorado has won both games this season by scores of 13-12 and 11-7. However, the Rush have won three of the last five games when the teams have played in Denver. Edmonton will also need to end a rough ride on the road as the Rush have dropped six games in a row away from Rexall Place.

Moving into Saturday's home game, the Rush will need to end a dismal skid against their provincial rivals from Calgary. The Roughnecks have won seven in a row against Edmonton and 12 of the last 14 meetings. Calgary has already won all three games against the Rush this season including a home-and-home weekend series sweep on March 9-10.

The Rush were able to stretch a streak of success last weekend as they picked up their third straight win at Rexall Place with an 11-8 victory over the Buffalo Bandits. The Rush and Bandits were tied at 3-3 after the first quarter and 6-6 at halftime before Edmonton took over and outscored Buffalo 5-2 in the second half. Zack Greer paced the Rush attack and continued to be Edmonton's most dominant shooter on the year as he collected a hat trick including one power-play marker, raising his team-leading goal total to 27 on the year.

Shawn Williams anchored the Rush with one goal and five assists, while Ryan Ward supplied one goal and four helpers. Corey Small, with a pair, Derek Suddons, Tom Johnson, Aaron Wilson, and Jarret Toll, with a shorthanded tally, also scored for Edmonton against Buffalo.

Colorado has taken both matchups against Edmonton this season, although the Rush's home-opener was quite a nail-biter as the Mammoth needed a goal from John Grant Jr. with 15 seconds remaining in regulation time to pull out the 13-12 win. In that game, Rush forward Shawn Williams had a record-setting performance, setting new franchise-highs for points in a game with nine, and for assists in a game with eight. Zack Greer and Ryan Ward both picked up hat tricks in the game with Ward also supplying three assists. Corey Small had a four-point effort with two goals and two assists, while Brett Mydske, Tom Johnson, and Scott Evans added a goal each.

In the return matchup three weeks later in Denver, the Mammoth outscored the Rush 4-1 in the fourth quarter to take an 11-7 victory. Scott Evans led the Rush attack with three goals and one assist, while Ryan Ward also had a four-point effort with four helpers. Aaron Wilson, with a pair, along with John Lafontaine and Zack Greer notched the other Edmonton goals.

Last season, Colorado eliminated the Rush from post-season contention by taking two of three meetings down the stretch. Ryan Ward led Edmonton to two wins over Colorado during the 2010 campaign as he notched seven points in both victories.

Overall, Colorado holds a 13-5 edge over Edmonton in all-time meetings between the two teams.

Following a sweep of the home-and-home weekend series back in March, Calgary holds a significant edge with a 19-4 all-time record against Edmonton. The Roughnecks opened the weekend set with a 13-10 win at Rexall Place. The Rush fired their way back into the game with an explosive fourth quarter but they faded down the stretch and were turned aside as Mike Poulin stood tall with 42 saves in the Calgary net.

Scott Evans tied the Rush team record for goals in a game with six - lacrosse's double hat trick referred to as a sock trick - with single goals going to Kyle Rubisch, Zack Greer, Tom Johnson, and Aaron Wilson.

The Roughnecks returned to the Saddledome the following night, demolishing the Rush in the fourth quarter to take a 16-9 verdict. Calgary blasted Edmonton 7-0 in the final minutes to run roughshod over a game that was knotted 8-8 at halftime. Zack Greer notched a hat trick for Edmonton while Scott Evans potted a pair of goals. The Rush also got goals from Derek Suddons, Corey Small, Ryan Ward, and Kyle Rubisch.

In the first Battle of Alberta during the 2012 season, the Roughnecks earned a 12-8 win at the Saddledome. Corey Small and Scott Evans each scored twice for Edmonton with singles going to Jarrett Toll, Tom Johnson, Ryan Ward, and Zack Greer.

The last Edmonton victory in regular-season play against Calgary came in the 2010 season, and the Rush hold the lone playoff win over the Roughnecks as they bounced the defending league champions out of the 2010 post-season with an 11-7 win in the West Division Semifinal.

Among last season's Roughneck wins over the Rush was a 12-11 victory in Edmonton's first-ever matinee game on February 20. Calgary took an early-season home-and-home series by counts of 15-11 at Rexall Place and then 12-11 in OT back on the Roughnecks' home floor.

Shawn Williams leads the Rush with 58 points on the year including 46 assists, currently putting him with the fifth-best set-up total in the NLL. Williams' total of 46 helpers establishes a new Rush team record for assists in a season previously held by Ryan Ward at 43 set 2010.

Ryan Ward is next in Rush scoring with 50 points and Scott Evans is third with 46. Zack Greer's 27 goals is tops on the Rush followed by Scott Evans with 22. Corey Small and Ryan Ward are tied for third on the team with 16 goals apiece.

Rush defender Kyle Rubisch is continuing his stellar play this season, as the second-year pro and two-time all-star leads the NLL with 33 forced turnovers. Rubisch is also sixth in the NLL in loose ball collection with 121.

Colorado is coming off a 19-11 win over Toronto last week, while Calgary had their six-game winning streak stopped in Rochester as the Knighthawks won 14-12. The Mammoth boast two of the NLL's most dominant offensive threats in John Grant Jr. and Gavin Prout.

Grant is the NLL's leader in points with 104 and goals with 46, plus the future Hall of Famer is fourth with 58 assists and third with 17 power-play goals. Prout, who previously played with Edmonton, is third in assists with 61 and fourth in points with 83.

Rush vs. Mammoth - Season-by-Season Glance

2012

11-7 Mammoth win at Colorado (Adam Jones, John Grant Jr. and Jordan McBride all notch hat tricks)

13-12 Mammoth win at Edmonton (John Grant Jr. leads with five goals and four assists)

2011

13-6 Mammoth win at Edmonton

14-13 Rush win at Edmonton (Scott Evans leads the way with four goals and two assists)

7-6 Mammoth win at Colorado (John Grant notches two goals and two assists)

2010

14-13 Rush win at Colorado (Ryan Ward scores four goals and adds three assists)

13-9 Rush win at Colorado (Ryan Ward notches hat trick plus four assists)

14-10 Mammoth win at Edmonton (Jamie Shewchuk collects nine points including four goals)

2009

11-9 Rush win at Colorado (Ryan Benesch has eight-point night featuring five assists)

10-9 Rush win at Edmonton (Callum Crawford nets four goals and adds two assists)

10-9 Mammoth win at Colorado (Jamie Shewchuk scores twice and adds two assists)

2008

14-11 Mammoth win at Colorado (Dan Carey pots hat trick plus three assists)

15-4 Mammoth win at Colorado (Jamie Shewchuk scores four goals and adds three assists)

13-8 Mammoth win at Edmonton (Jamie Shewchuk has second straight seven-point game)

2007

16-9 Mammoth win at Edmonton (Jamie Shewchuk notches hat trick plus two assists)

16-7 Mammoth win at Colorado (Dan Carey leads with two goals and three assists)

2006

15-10 Mammoth win at Colorado (Dan Stroup collects six points including hat trick)

13-7 Mammoth win at Edmonton (Ben Prepchuk racks up six points including four helpers)

Rush vs. Roughnecks - Season-by-Season Glance

2012

16-9 Roughnecks win at Calgary (Shawn Evans pots five goals including penalty shot tally)

13-10 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Curtis Dickson with four goals and three assists)

12-8 Roughnecks win at Calgary (Curtis Dickson nets hat trick plus two assists)

2011

19-14 Roughnecks win at Calgary (Jeff Shattler totals nine points with one goal and eight assists)

15-11 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Dane Dobbie collects three goals and six assists)

12-11 Roughnecks OT win at Calgary (Mike Scherman pots the game-winner)

12-11 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Jeff Shattler notches hat trick plus five assists)

2010

14-11 Rush win at Edmonton (Dean Hill notches hat trick and adds one assist)

13-8 Roughnecks win at Calgary (Josh Sanderson picks up three goals and three assists)

14-13 Roughnecks OT win at Edmonton (Josh Sanderson earns hat trick including game-winner)

*11-7 Rush win at Calgary (Ryan Ward notches nine points including eight assists)

*denotes playoff game

2009

10-9 Roughnecks OT win at Calgary (Curt Malawsky notches the game-winner)

22-10 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Dane Dobbie collects 11 points including seven goals)

14-13 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Tracey Kelusky racks up eight points including four goals)

2008

11-9 Rush win at Edmonton (Jimmy Quinlan pots four goals plus one assist)

18-7 Roughnecks win at Calgary (Kaleb Toth registers nine points including four goals)

12-8 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Curt Malawsky registers four goals and one assist)

2007

13-12 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Kaleb Toth and Lewis Ratcliff each with four points)

13-12 Rush win at Calgary (Chris Gill sets club record with six goals)

17-11 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Tracey Kelusky collects two goals and seven assists)

2006

11-9 Roughnecks win at Calgary (Lewis Ratcliff scores five goals)

12-9 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Kaleb Toth and Tracey Kelusky each with seven points)

12-11 Rush win at Calgary (Pat Campbell earns player of the game with 54 saves)

16-9 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Lewis Ratcliff notches four goals and two assists)

Statistically Speaking: Edmonton not only faces the two best teams in the league in Colorado and Calgary but the two clubs who have dominated divisional foes this season. The Rush are 3-6 vs. the rest of the West, while Colorado is 6-2 against the division and Calgary is 8-2 vs. the West ... Calgary and Colorado boast the NLL's best offenses. Calgary has scored a league-leading 207 goals while Colorado has mustered 193 ... The Rush still has the NLL's most stifling defense with only 143 goals-against this season - 21 goals fewer than Calgary. Edmonton's offense, though, has managed a league-low 136 goals ... The Mammoth have surrendered 171 goals on the year - tied for worst in the West Division ... Edmonton's power play is going at a 35.0% clip while the penalty killing sits at 51.9%. Colorado boasts at 60.0% on the power play and 50.0% while shorthanded. Calgary holds a power play of 48.8% and a penalty kill of 56.9% ... Scott Evans leads the Rush with five power-play goals. Shawn Williams, Ryan Ward, and Zack Greer all next with 4 on the man-advantage ... Ryan Ward is tops on the Rush with two shorthanded goals - one off his club record ... Second-year pro Jarrett Toll is fourth in the NLL with 19 forced turnovers, and he is second on the Rush with 77 loose balls after scooping eight against Buffalo ... Roughneck Geoff Snider leads the NLL with 218 loose balls and is second in faceoff wins with 262 ... Calgary netminder Mike Poulin and Colorado stopper Chris Levis share the NLL lead with 10 wins. Rush counterpart Aaron Bold is fifth with five victories. Bold is sixth in the league with 447 saves, trailing both Levis (league-leading 537) and Poulin (fourth with 486). Poulin also has the NLL's second-best goals-against average at 10.27.

By The Numbers: With three games to go in the season, a number of team records are at stake for the Rush. Shawn Williams, who earned the team record for assists in a season last week, needs just 16 points to top Ryan Ward's club mark of 74 set in 2010. Zack Greer needs 10 goals to pass Chris Gill's mark of 37 established in 2007 ... In his first game with the Rush and the club's first game of the 2012 season, Shawn Williams set a franchise record with nine points in a game. That mark was equaled later this season by Corey Small. Williams' team record of eight assists in a game was previously held by current Colorado star Gavin Prout ... Goaltender Aaron Bold should set a new club standard for minutes played by a goaltender in a season. Bold stands at 771 minutes on the year with 808 being the club record held by Matt Disher. Bold's current goals-against average of 10.42, which is third-best in the NLL, puts him in line to eclipse Curtis Palidwor's club record of 10.48 set in 2007 ... Edmonton's season-high three-game winning streak has included a 9-8 OT win over Minnesota and a 10-9 decision over Washington ... The Rush's lone road win of the season was in their first road game of the season as they thumped Washington 16-5 ... The Rush have outscored their opponents 45-32 in the first quarter but have sagged in the fourth quarter being outmatched 40-27 ... In last year's season finale against Calgary, Ryan Ward set a Rush club record for points in a quarter with six as he fired in both of his goals on the night and chalked up four of his five helpers in the opening period ... Brothers Scott and Shawn Evans are among the NLL's most penalized players. Calgary's Shawn is third in the NLL with 63 PIMs while Edmonton's Scott is seventh with 50.

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National Lacrosse League Stories from April 18, 2012


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