The Rapid City Rush are welcoming the Maine Mariners to South Dakota for the first time this week for a three game series.
Last Week
Last week, the Rapid City Rush were on the road where they took on the Idaho Steelheads. Rapid City was able to sweep the Steelheads for the second time this season after finding ways to win in all three fashions with an overtime win, shootout win, and then a regulation win. After the series, Rush goaltender, Matt Radomsky, was named the ECHL Goaltender of the Week.
For the Maine Mariners, they were at home last weekend taking on the Norfolk Admirals. The Mariners were able to shutout the Admirals in the first game before losing their second game.
Incoming Stats
The Rush and Mariners have only met three times in the ECHL where Rapid City is 2-1-0-0. The two teams met for the first time last season in Maine. The Rush are currently 24th in the league while the Mariners sit one point behind them at 25th, with a game in hand.
The Rapid City Rush enter this series with a home record of 8-9-1-3 and an overall record of 15-22-5-3. Rapid City is currently on a four-game point streak, having gone 5-4-1-0 in their last ten games. They are converting at 17.2% on the power play (22nd) and 79.4% on the penalty kill (21st). The Rush are averaging 32.51 shots per game but are also allowing an average of 32.91 shots against per game. They are averaging 2.73 goals per game while allowing an average of 3.67 goals against per game.
The Maine Mariners come into the series with a road record of 6-11-2-0 and an overall record of 17-24-3-0. They are 3-7-0-0 in their last ten games and are currently on a five-game road winless streak. The Mariners are converting at 16.9% on the power play (23rd) and have a penalty kill rate of 81.9% (12th). They are averaging 2.50 goals per game while allowing an average of 3.50 goals against per game. The Mariners are averaging 28.16 shots per game and allowing an average of 28.68 shots against per game.
Rapid City is currently tied for fifth in the league in shorthanded goals with seven and tied for second in the league in road shorthanded goals with four while the Mariners are the only team that has yet to score a shorthanded goal.
Rush captain Ryan Wagner comes into the weekend on a five-game home assist streak with five assists during that time.
Rapid City Roster Moves
The Rapid City Rush saw a lot of movement this past week including multiple players sent down from the AHL and a pair of trades. The Rush received defenseman Joni Jurmo, forward Connor Mylymok, and goaltender Connor Murphy from the Calgary Wranglers.
In nine games with the Rush this season, Jurmo has two goals and five assists for seven points with two assists and a -4. While with the Wranglers, Jurmo has played in ten games where he had four penalty minutes and a +1 with zero points.
In 30 games with the Rush this season, Connor Mylymok has seven goals and seven assists for 14 points with 47 penalty minutes and a -1. During his AHL callup with the Wranglers, Mylymok played in five games where he had ten penalty minutes and a -1 with zero points.
Connor Murphy has played in 14 games with 789 minutes on ice for the Rush this season where he has a record of 4-6-0-3 with one shutout. Murphy has a 2.96 goals against average and a .911 save percentage after allowing 39 goals and making 399 saves on 438 shots. While with the Wranglers, Murphy played in four games with 218 minutes on ice with a record of 2-2-0-0. Murphy had a 4.14 goals against average and a .881 save percentage after allowing 15 goals and making 111 saves on 126 shots.
The Rush also received defenseman Mitchell Smith while trading away forward Simon Boyko in a separate trade. Prior to joining the Rush, Smith had played in 16 games with the Bloomington Bison where he had one goal with two penalty minutes and a -8. Simon Boyko had played in 22 games with the Rush this season where he had four goals and five assists for nine points with two penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -13.
In other news, Rush goaltender Christian Propp, defenseman Matt Araujo, and forward Garrett Klotz have all been put on 14-day injured reserve while forward Dustin Manz has been put on the 3-day injured reserve.
Milestone Watch
Rapid City Rush forward Blake Bennett could play in not only his 100th ECHL game this series, but also his 100th Rush game. Bennett has currently played in 97 ECHL games, all of which have been in a Rush jersey. Bennett has 41 goals and 39 assists for 80 points with 50 penalty minutes and a -9 during his time in the ECHL. This season, Bennett has played in ten games where he has five goals and seven assists for 12 points with six penalty minutes and a -1.
The Rush and Mariners will start their series on Thursday, February 13th, as the Mariners make their way out to Rapid City for the first time ever. The two teams will continue the series on Friday, February 14th, and wrap it up with a special Midnight Madness game on Saturday, February 15th. Puck drop will be at 7:05 pm MT on Thursday and Friday and will be at 11:59 pm MT on Saturday.
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