ECHL: The Rapid City Rush Head into the Last Week of the Regular Season Looking to Make the Playoffs

The Rapid City Rush welcome the Idaho Steelheads to the Black Hills after taking five out of six points against the Kansas City Mavericks and Wichita Thunder last week. The Rush are currently sixth in the Mountain division with a record of 32-33-4-0 for 68 points and a win percentage of 0.493. The Steelheads come into this series with a record of 56-10-1-2 for 115 points and a win percentage of 0.833.

Player Streaks

The Rush comes into the final series of the regular season with four players on point streaks. Brett Gravelle and Ilya Nikolaev are on two-game point streaks. Nikolaev has one goal and two assists for three points, while Gravelle has one goal and four assists for five points during that time. Logan Nelson is on a three-game point streak with one goal and three assists for four points. Jon Martin is on a four-game point streak with four goals and one assist for five points. Rory Kerins is on a two-game assist streak with two assists. Gravelle is not on the active roster, so he may not play this week.

Idaho comes in with only two players on point streaks. Justin Misiak and Demetrios Koumontzis are both on two-game assist streaks. They both have two assists during that time.

Pre-Game Stats

The Rush enter this week’s series with a record of 19-12-2-0 at home, and they are 4-3-3-0 in their last ten games. The Rush are currently on a five-game point streak with a record of 2-0-3-0 in that time. This season, they are 3-8-0-0 against the Steelheads and are 24-11-2-0 when scoring first. Special teams have been better for the Rush recently, as their powerplay is now 23rd in the league at 16.1%, and their home powerplay is also 23rd at 16.7%. Their penalty kill is still last in the league at 75.5%, and their home penalty kill is 27th at 75.2%. The Rush have an average of 3.38 goals per game, which is 11th in the league, and they are 24th in the league with an average of 3.77 goals against per game. They are second in the league with an average of 35.75 shots per game, and they are 20th in the league with an average of 33.51 shots against per game.

The Steelheads come into this week’s series with a record of 24-6-1-2 on the road, and they are 9-1-0-0 in their last ten games. The Steelheads are currently on a four-game win streak and are 37-5-1-1 when scoring first. Their powerplay is fifth in the league at 23.0%, but their road powerplay is first in the league at 25.7%. Their penalty kill is second in the league at 84.4%, and their road penalty kill is 14th in the league at 80.7%. The Steelheads are first in the league with an average of 4.03 goals per game, and they are first in the league with an average of 2.09 goals against per game. The Steelheads have an average of 35.57 shots per game which is good for fourth in the league, and they are third in the league with an average of 28.87 shots against per game.

Player Milestones

With it being the last week of the regular season, there are quite a few Rush players that could hit milestones this week. Zach Court will be the first to hit a milestone, and he will hit two at once. Court will play in his 100th ECHL and 100th Rush game this week; he currently sits at 99 games in the ECHL and 99 games with the Rush. This season Court has played in 58 games with the Rush. He has eight goals and 11 assists for 19 points. He has 20 penalty minutes and a plus/minus if -13. Court is in his second ECHL season, both of which have been played with the Rush. He has 41 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -29. Court also played in four playoff games with the Rush last season. In the four games, he had one goal and zero assists for one point.

Carter Robertson will most likely hit 100 professional games played this week, as he currently sits at 98. This season, Robertson has played in 55 games and has five goals and 21 assists for 26 points. He has 52 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +10. Robertson has split his time this season with the Rush and Norfolk Admirals. He has played 52 games with the Rush, where he has five goals and 21 assists for 26 points. He has 48 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +14. With the Admirals, he played three games and did not record any points. He had four penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -4. Robertson has played in 93 ECHL games, where he has nine goals and 28 assists for 37 points. He has 76 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -6. Robertson also spent some time in the AHL, where he played in five games. He had one goal and zero assists for one point. He had four penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +2. Throughout his entire professional career, Robertson has played in 98 games where he has ten goals and 28 assists for 38 points. He has 80 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -4.

Logan Nelson could be hitting a trio of single-season career highs this week. Logan Nelson currently has 20 goals and 35 assists for 55 points this season. Nelson’s single-season career highs for goals is 22, 38 for assists, and 60 for total points. If Nelson gets two goals and three assists this week, he will tie all three single-season career highs. Nelson is currently in his eighth ECHL season, where he has played in 449 games. He has 121 goals and 193 assists for 314 points. He has 417 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -74.

Alex Aleardi can also set a single-season career high for goals this week. Aleardi currently sits at 28 goals this season. Aleardi’s single-season career high in goals is 31 goals. Aleardi is currently in his fourth ECHL season, where he has played 169 games. He has 81 goals and 82 assists for 163 points. He has 100 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +20.

Colton Leiter could also set a single-season career high for points. Leiter’s single-season career high for points is 21. He currently sits at 18 points this season. This season, he has four goals and 14 assists for 18 points. He has eight penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -15. Leiter is currently in his second ECHL season, but his first season as a defenseman, as he was a forward last season. Leiter has played in 105 games, where he has 14 goals and 25 assists for 39 points. He has 24 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -21.