The Rapid City Rush hit the road this weekend to make their first ever trip to Tahoe to take on the Tahoe Knight Monsters.
Last Week
Last week, the Rapid City Rush were at home where they took on the Idaho Steelheads. The Rush won the first game 4-3 in overtime and then won the second game 8-5 to extend their win streak to 11. Rapid City ended up having their win streak snapped in the third game as they lost 4-3 in overtime. While their win streak was snapped, Rapid City’s point streak is still alive, now sitting at 13 games. Rapid City also saw the return of Head Coach Scott Burt on the bench for the final game of the series.
The Knight Monsters were also at home last week as they took on the Allen Americans. Tahoe was able to pull off a 3-2 overtime win in the first game and then won the second game 2-1. After two great wins, Tahoe then dropped the series finale, losing 4-1.
Incoming Stats
The Rush and Knight Monsters met three times earlier in the season, where the Knight Monsters won the series 2-1 against the Rush in Rapid City. Rapid City is currently sixth in the Mountain Division, while Tahoe sits 13 points ahead of them in third.
The Rapid City Rush enter this series with a road record of 10-13-4-0 and an overall record of 23-22-6-3. Rapid City is currently on a 13-game point streak, having gone 11-0-2-0 during that time. They are converting at 19.9% on the power play (13th) and 77.9% on the penalty kill (25th). The Rush are averaging 31.59 shots per game but are also allowing an average of 33.65 shots against per game. They are averaging 3.07 goals per game while allowing an average of 3.56 goals against per game. Rapid City currently leads the league with ten shorthanded goals.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters come into the series with a home record of 17-6-2-1 and an overall record of 32-20-3-1. They are 5-5-0-0 in their last ten games. The Knight Monsters are converting at 21.1% on the power play (9th) and have a penalty kill rate of 83.5% (7th). They are averaging 3.54 goals per game while allowing an average of 3.30 goals against per game. The Knight Monsters are averaging 32.27 shots per game and allowing an average of 31.21 shots against per game.
Milestone Watch
Rapid City Rush forward Blake Bennett could hit 100 ECHL points and 100 points with the Rush as he currently sits at 98. Bennett has played in 106 ECHL games, all of which have been with the Rush. In that time, he has 53 goals and 45 assists for 98 points with 58 penalty minutes and a -3. This season, Bennett has played in 18 games, where he has 17 goals and 13 assists for 30 points. He has 14 penalty minutes and a +5.
Players to Watch
The player to watch for the Knight Monsters is forward Sloan Stanick. Stanick is having an incredible rookie season as he currently sits eighth in the league in points and leads all rookies in points. In 54 games played, Stanick has 21 goals and 36 assists for 57 points. Stanick leads all rookies in assists with his 36 as well. This season, he has 200 shots, good for second most in the league and is the most among rookies. Stanick is tied for second among rookies in powerplay assists with 11 and is tied for third among rookies in powerplay points with 15.
The player to watch for Rapid City is forward Deni Goure. This past week, Goure had three goals and three assists for six points against the Steelheads. He also opened the scoring for Rapid City in their 3-2 win against the Knight Monsters back in January. This season, Goure has played in 51 games with the Rush where he has 16 goals and 22 assists for 38 points on 120 shots. He has seven powerplay goals and seven powerplay assists, along with three game-winning goals, four first goals, one insurance goal, and one overtime goal.
The Rush and Knight Monsters will kick off their series on Thursday, March 6th. They will continue the series on Saturday, March 8th, before wrapping it up on Sunday, March 9th. Puck drop will be at 8:00 pm MT on Thursday and Saturday and will be at 4:00 pm MT on Sunday.
ITR 36: Coaching Carousel – Inside The Rink
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