The Rapid City Rush are welcoming the Iowa Heartlanders to South Dakota for a three game series this weekend.
Last Week
Last week, the Rush were in Tahoe taking on the Tahoe Knight Monsters. The Rush lost the first game 5-4 and then lost the second game 7-1. The Rush were able to win the third game in overtime after scoring the game-tying goal with 29 seconds left in regulation. They then scored the overtime winner only six seconds into the overtime period.
The Iowa Heartlanders were on the road last week taking on the Bloomington Bison in a two game series. The Heartlanders only took one point out of the series after losing the first game 3-2 in overtime and then losing the second game 5-4 in regulation.
Incoming Stats
The Rush and Heartlanders last met in December of 2023, where the Rush swept the Heartlanders in Rapid. The Rush and Heartlanders have met a total of eight times, where the Rush have gone 6-1-1-0. Rapid City is currently ninth in the Western Conference, while Iowa sits 14 points ahead of them in sixth.
The Rapid City Rush enter this series with a home record of 13-9-2-3 and an overall record of 24-24-6-3. They are converting at 19.1% on the power play (15th) and 77.5% on the penalty kill (26th). The Rush are averaging 32.07 shots per game but are also allowing an average of 33.91 shots against per game. They are averaging 3.09 goals per game while allowing an average of 3.65 goals against per game.
The Iowa Heartlanders come into the series with a road record of 15-13-2-2 and an overall record of 31-18-5-4. The Heartlanders are converting at 16.7% on the power play (24th) and have a penalty kill rate of 79.3% (20th). They are averaging 2.88 goals per game while allowing an average of 2.81 goals against per game. The Heartlanders are averaging 28.64 shots per game and allowing an average of 28.28 shots against per game.
Rapid City currently leads the league with ten shorthanded goals, while Iowa sits right behind them in a three way tie for second with nine.
Milestone Watch
Rush defenseman Charles Martin is currently on track to play in his 100th ECHL and Rush games as he is currently at 98 ECHL games and 98 games with the Rush. In his time in a Rush jersey, Martin has seven goals and 45 assists with 68 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -6. This season, Martin has played in 37 games, where he has three goals and 16 assists for 19 points. He has 36 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -15. Martin also played in two AHL games with the Calgary Wranglers this season but did not register any points.
New Face
The Rapid City Rush announced a trade with the Allen Americans on Thursday. The Rush traded forward Tyler Burnie for forward Patrick Polino. Burnie played in 51 games with the Rush before being trade,d where he had five goals and eight assists for 13 points. He had 21 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -11.
Polino has had quite the hockey career thus far. He played his junior years in the USHL with the Chicago Steel, Green Bay Gamblers, and Lincoln Stars, and then played collegiately at the Division I level at RPI. The 29-year-old started his professional career in the AHL with the Rochester Americans but has spent the majority of it in the ECHL. In 225 ECHL games, Polino has 59 goals and 101 assists for 160 points. He has 126 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -40. He has played in 36 AHL games, where he had five goals and four assists for nine points with six penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -8.
Players to Watch
The player to watch for Iowa is Keltie Jeri-Leon, who is a former Rush player. Jeri-Leon was traded to Iowa in early February and has played 12 games with them since. With the Heartlanders, he has three goals and eight assists for 11 points with a +1. Jeri-Leon tends to perform well against Rapid City, especially in Rapid City. Last season, in three games against the Rush, Jeri-Leon had one goal and six assists for seven points as well as a +6.
The player to watch for Rapid City is newcomer Patrick Polino. Polino is coming to a new team and will be looking to make a name for himself. This season, Polino has played for the Adirondack Thunder and Allen Americans. In 29 games with the Americans, Polino had two goals and 12 assists for 14 points with eight penalty minutes and a -15. Between the Thunder and Americans combined, Polino has played in 55 games this season, where he has five goals and 19 assists for 24 points with 35 penalty minutes and a -25.
The two teams will start their series on Thursday, March 13th, before continuing the series on Friday, March 14th, and then wrapping it up on Saturday, March 15th. Puck drop will be at 7:05 pm MT all three nights.
ITR 30: Down The Stretch – Inside The Rink
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