ECHL Rapid City Rush

What's the Rush?

December 29, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Rapid City Rush News Release


Rush Stat Leaders

- Goals - Jesse Schultz - 10

- Assists - Jesse Schultz - 15

- Points - Jesse Schultz - 25

- Plus/Minus - Riley Weselowski/Winston Day Chief/Jeremy Gates - +5

- PIM - Daniel Barczuk - 63

The Upcoming Week

RAPID CITY RUSH (11-15-2, 24 Pts-6th Central Division) @ TULSA OILERS (14-10-5, 31 Pts-T-3rd Central Division)

Tuesday December 30th, 6 p.m. MST at BOK Center

Saturday January 3rd, 6:35 p.m. MST at BOK Center

Sunday January 4th, 3:05 p.m. MST at BOK Center

RAPID CITY RUSH @ ALLEN AMERICANS (19-5-3, 41 Pts-1st Central Division)

Wednesday December 31st, 6:05 p.m. MST at Allen Events Center

Friday January 2nd, 6:05 p.m. MST at Allen Events Center

The Week That Was

---December 26th-MISSOURI MAVERICKS 5, RAPID CITY RUSH 3 (MO: L. Sparks- GT and GWG's, Ast)

After being blanked in their last meeting on Saturday, the Mavericks struck twice less than three minutes apart. The first goal came at the 5:51 mark of the opening period when Dallas Erhardt flung a wrister from the point past Danny Battochio, giving the Mavericks an early 1-0 lead. Exactly 2:43 later, Lindsay Sparks went in on a two-on-zero rush, and eventually deferred to Chris Crane who scored the goal to give the Mavericks a 2-0 lead early. Joey Sides scored his first goal in his first game back off of the injured reserve on the Rush's first power play, bringing them within striking distance at 2-1 with 3:16 left in the period. Exactly 1:17 later, Jesse Schultz threaded the needle on a sharp angle shot to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the middle act. Daniel Tetrault connected with Dylan Clarke on an open back door to give the Rush their only lead of the game at 3-2 just over the midway point of the second period, but in the closing moments of the frame, Lindsay Sparks would score his first of two goals and tie the game at 3-3 heading into the third. Midway through the third period, Sparks found his second goal 9:10 into the frame to give the Mavericks their final lead of the game at 4-3. Andrew Courtney scored an empty-netter with 28.4 seconds left, sealing a 5-3 win for the Mavericks.

---December 27th- RAPID CITY RUSH 4, MISSOURI MAVERICKS 3 F/SO (RC: J.Sides-GWSOG, Rush PP-2/5)

This time out, it was the Rush that struck twice for an early 2-0 lead, with both goals coming on the man-advantage. J.P. Chabot deflected a shot from Jeremy Gates 29 seconds into the first Rush power play of the game, giving the Rush an early 1-0 lead 8:20 into the game. Almost seven minutes later, the Rush, on the front end of a double-minor power play, doubled their lead to 2-0 from Jesse Schultz' shot from the near wall 20 seconds in to extend the Rush lead to 2-0 heading into the break. The Mavericks stormed back in the second period, and scored three unanswered goals to usurp the lead heading into the final period. Two nights in a row it was Dallas Erhardt that started the Mavericks scoring rally just 1:43 into the frame. 3:03 later it was John-Scott Dickson that sent a loose rebound past Battochio to tie the game at 2-2. Capping off the Mavericks rally was Evan Vossen taking advantage of a defensive zone breakdown to give the Mavericks their only lead of the game at the 16:44 mark of the second. With 3:56 left in the game, Sean Erickson rifled a shot from the point which was deflected by Dylan Clarke to tie the game at 3-3, forcing overtime, and eventually a shootout. Jesse Schultz scored first for the Rush, but it was Joey Sides who ultimately put the Rush ahead, setting up a final showdown between Battochio and Mavericks Captain Sebastien Thinel. Thinel fumbled the puck leading up to Battochio, and the Rush netminder poked the puck away, sealing a 4-3 Rush win.

Notes and Numbers

Lethal Weapon 3 - Jesse Schultz, Winston Day Chief, and Sean Erickson all kept their point streaks alive after last weekend's series with the Mavericks. Each gentleman has a five-game point streak, and all three players have combined for 8 goals and 10 assists for 18 points in that span of games.

Playoff Series...in January?? - The Rush begin a stretch of play in which they partake in 8 games in a span of 12 days. Of those 8 games, 5 are on the road, and 6 feature matchups against the Tulsa Oilers, with 5 of those matchups coming consecutively. The other two games are against the Central Division-leading Allen Americans.

Tremendous Up-Sides - Since coming back off of the IR, Joey Sides has made a major impact on the ice. Sides has become a factor in both games following his return, recording a power play goal on Friday night, and winning the game for the Rush in their shootout on Saturday night.

CRUNCHING NUMBERS - Last Week vs the Mavericks

- 50 - the Rush power play percentage against the Mavericks last weekend. The Rush scored 2 power play goals each night and finished 4/8 on the weekend. In total, the Rush are 7/26 against the Mavericks in 6 meetings on the power play, a scoring clip of 26.9%

- 49 - the total amount of time utilized by the Rush to score their power play goals on Saturday night. J.P. Chabot scored 29 seconds into the first Rush power play, while Jesse Schultz scored 20 seconds into the front end of a double minor power play a few minutes later. The fastest power play goal scored by the Rush was by Landon Oslanski 14 seconds into his man-advantage against the Wichita Thunder back on 11/11.

Check out the Rapid City Rush Statistics



ECHL Stories from December 29, 2014


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