The Rapid City Rush are headed to Greenville, South Carolina, to take on their sister team, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, in a three-game series.
Last Week
Last week, the Rapid City Rush were at home, where they took on the Idaho Steelheads in a three-game series. The series did not go well for the Rush as they were swept in the three games by scores of 3-6, 4-5, and 1-3. The Rush did not have the worst performance, but it definitely was not their best performance. The team looked really good for part of the second game, where they were able to get a 4-2 lead over the Steelheads. But things turned south real quick when they gave up three quick goals and saw themselves down 4-5 in the third. The Steelheads scored three goals in less than 1:30. The Rush also struggled on special teams as they went 2/5 on the penalty kill and went 1/9 on the powerplay. The Rush were still able to get shots off as they outshot the Steelheads in two of the three games, but they struggled to solve the Steelheads’ goaltenders.
Milestones
Rush forward Logan Nelson could hit both 500 ECHL games and 200 games with the Rush as he is currently at 499 ECHL games played and 199 games played with the Rush. This season, Nelson has played 47 games with the Rush, where he has 14 goals and 31 assists for 45 points. He has 20 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +3. Through his 199 games with the Rush, Nelson has 67 goals and 120 assists for 187 points. He has 177 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -17. In 499 ECHL games played, Nelson has 136 goals and 225 assists for 361 points. He has 437 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -74.
If activated from injured reserve, defenseman TJ Fergus could play in his 100th ECHL game, as he currently sits at 98. This season, Fergus has played in 36 games for the Rush, where he has two goals and 14 assists for 16 points. He has ten penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -6. In 98 ECHL games played, Fergus has six goals and 32 assists for 38 points. He has 18 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -7.
New Faces
The Rush have had quite a few roster changes recently, with the most recent being Adam Eby. The Rush acquired Eby in a trade with the Savannah Ghost Pirates for cash considerations. Eby played 18 games with the Ghost Pirates, where he had zero goals and two assists for two points. He had 10 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -2. Eby started the season in the SPHL with the Macon Mayhem, where he played in 16 games and had two goals and three assists for five points. He had six penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -7. Eby is in his second season in the ECHL and has played in 32 games where he has zero goals and three assists. He has 12 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -9. Eby did play in two of the games the Rush had against the Idaho Steelheads, where he had zero goals and one assist. He has zero penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -2.
Hot Streaks
The Rush have two players coming into this series with point streaks. Rush forward Keanu Yamamoto is on a three-game point streak where he has two goals and one assist for three points. Rush forward Logan Nelson is also on a three-game point streak where he has zero goals and four assists for four points. Both players have been pretty hot for the Rush all season as Nelson has 45 points and Yamamoto has 30 points.
This Week
The Rapid City Rush and Greenville Swamp Rabbits are going head-to-head in a three-game series this week. The Swamp Rabbits are fifth in the league standings with a record of 34-15-2-0 for 70 points and a win percentage of .686. They are 18-9-0-0 at home and are 5-4-1-0 in their last ten with a two-game win streak. The Rush are 26th in the league standings with a record of 19-28-2-0 for 40 points and a win percentage of .408. They are 11-13-1-0 on the road and 2-8-0-0 in their last ten games with a six-game losing streak.
The Swamp Rabbits and Rush have not seen each other since April of 2022. Where
the Rush went 0-2-1-0 in the three-game series. The Swamp Rabbits have had a really good season, as their win record and stats show. But the Rush have been able to find some success on the road this season and will be looking to find some more success against the Swamp Rabbits. Both teams are very different than they were in previous meetings between the two teams, but the Rush are 2-3-1-0 against the Swamp Rabbits in previous seasons. The Rush have not faired well against the Swamp Rabbits before, but with their road record this season, they may be able to find some success against the Swamp Rabbits if they tighten up on defense to help out their goalie more and if they find more shots that they are able to get past the goaltender.
The two teams will face off in the first game of the series on Thursday, February 22nd, with a start time of 5:05 MST. The series will continue on Saturday, February 24th, with puck drop at 5:05 MST and will wrap up on Sunday, February 25th, with an earlier puck drop of 1:05 MST.
