The Rapid City Rush and Savannah Ghost Pirates will be going head-to-head this week for the first time.
Last Week
Last week, the Rapid City Rush were in Greenville, South Carolina, to take on their sister team, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. The Rush were dominated by the Swamp Rabbits in the first two games as they lost by scores of 1-5 and 2-6. But they were not going to go out quietly as they came to play for the third game and won 5-3. While the Rush were able to avoid being swept and were able to take two points out of the series, they are going to have to start taking more than two points out of the remaining series that they have if they want to try to make a late-season playoff push. One of their main issues against Greenville and this whole season was defense. The Rush have been able to get shots on net, but they have not been able to defend in front of their own goalie. These defensive breakdowns have cost the Rush multiple games this season.
Milestones
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.
Hot Streaks
While the Rush have been in a bit of a slump recently, there are a couple of players that have still been able to find some success on the scoresheet recently. Rush forward Brett Gravelle has one goal and two assists for three points in his last two games. This season, Gravelle has played in 52 games for the Rush, where he has 16 goals and 18 assists for 34 points. He has 12 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +4. Rush forward Alex Aleardi has also been able to find some success, as he has two goals and one assist for three points in his last two games. This season, Aleardi has played in 52 games for the Rush, where he has 19 goals and 31 assists for 50 points. He has 40 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -1.
New Face
The Rush have announced that they have signed forward Parker Bowman from Nipissing Lakers at Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario, to start his professional career. Bowman has spent the last four years at Nipissing University, but he did not play in any games during his first year with the team. This season, Bowman played in 27 games for the Lakers, where he had nine goals and 11 assists for 20 points. He had 18 penalty minutes. In his time as a Laker, he played in 67 games where he had 18 goals and 20 assists for 30 points. He had a total of 91 penalty minutes.
This signing could bring some good offense to the Rush as Bowman had a breakthrough season at Nipissing, with more than half of his career points coming in this season.
This Week
This week, the Rush are taking on the Savannah Ghost Pirates in the Black Hills. The Ghost Pirates are currently 26th in the league with a record of 19-28-4-1 for 43 points and a win percentage of .413. They are 9-15-1-0 on the road and 4-6-0-0 in their last ten. Meanwhile, the Rush are currently 27th in the league with a record of 20-30-2-0 for 42 points and a win percentage of .404. They have a record of 8-15-1-0 at home and are 2-8-0-0 in their last ten.
This week will be an interesting series as both teams are currently sitting towards the bottom of the league as well as their respective divisions. Both teams are still in the race for a playoff spot, although Savannah’s chances are a lot slimmer than Rapid City’s. The first game of this series will probably be a bit of a weird game as there is a lot of video out there on both teams, but that is not enough for the teams to familiarize themselves with each other. So, the first game will probably be the two teams figuring out each others’ styles of play. The Rush should come out with a fire under them because even though the Ghost Pirates are not in their division, the Rush need to get any points wherever they can right now if they want any chance of making the playoffs.
The series will kick off Wednesday, February 28, at 7:05 pm MST. The series will then continue Friday, March 1, with puck drop at 7:05 pm MST, and the series will wrap up Saturday, March 2, with puck drop still at 7:05 pm MST.
