Finding the Back of the Net Proves to Be a Problem for the Rush

After making it to the second round of the playoffs last season, in Coach Scott Burt’s first season, the Rapid City Rush have had an up-and-down season. The Rush came into the Toledo series looking promising after sweeping the two-game series against the Utah Grizzlies. However, their performance in this series was all but promising. The Rapid City Rush, currently 21st in the league, faced off against the Toledo Walleye, now 4th in the league. The Walleye came into this series hot and continued to stay hot throughout the series.

Early Goal Becomes the Lone Rush Goal of the Game

With 5000+ kids in attendance, the Rush opened their series against the Toledo Walleye on Wednesday for their annual School Day game. 1:35 into the first, the Rush struck first with a breakaway goal from Logan Nelson for his 15th of the season. This became the only Rush goal of the game and, eventually, the series. From there, it was five unanswered goals from the Walleye. Brandon Hawkins got his 21st goal of the season and tied the game on a tip from Seth Barton 3:27 into the first. The Walleye took a 2-1 lead late in the first with a powerplay goal from former Rush defenseman Charlie Curti, his fifth of the season. The Rush were outshot 8-14 in the first period.

The Walleye struck again 2:15 into the second with a shot by Seth Barton, a 2018 third-round Detroit Red Wings draft pick, that deflected off a Rush defender’s skate and went in. This was all the scoring that happened in the second. Although, 11:12 into the second, Kirill Tyutyayev, a 2019 seventh-round Red Wings draft pick, was on a breakaway when Rush defenseman Colton Leiter hooked him. He was awarded a penalty shot which was stopped by Rush goaltender Adam Carlson. The Rush outshot Toledo 12-7 in the second but could not get the puck past John Lethemon.

The third period had two goals, both scored by former Rush forward Andrew Sturtz. His first tally came 3:02 into the third, with a powerplay goal when he picked up a rebound in front of the net to make it 4-1. Sturtz then scored his 15th of the season, making it 5-1, 5:36 into the third when the puck appeared to be under Carlson’s glove. However, it was poked out and across the line. After a lengthy review, it was determined to be a good goal. The Rush had very little offensive zone time in the third and only registered three shots. Toledo had 13 shots in the third and outshot the Rush 34-23 in the game.

Rush Unable to Figure Out Toledo’s Goaltenders

The Rush faced off against the Walleye again on Friday, with different faces in net. The Rush started Nicholas Latinovich, who played his first ECHL game after getting called up from the Huntsville Havoc of the SPHL. The Walleye Sebastian Cossa was a 2021 first-round draft pick for the Red Wings. The scoring started early again when Walleye defenseman Conlan Keenan beat Latinovich blocker side to give the Walleye a 1-0 lead. 9:17 into the first, Brandon Hawkins beat Latinovich glove side to get his first of the night, making it 2-0. After a defensive zone breakdown by the Rush, Hawkins got his second of the night off of a pass from Riley McCourt 11:30 into the first. After a neutral zone turnover from the Rush, Brandon Hawkins then scored his 24th of the season to complete the natural hat trick with a pass from Gordie Green, making it 4-0 14:31 into the first. Keenan then got his 14th of the season and second of the game 16:08 into the first as he went top shelf on Latinovich. With a rough first period, the Rush were outshot 6-14 in the first.

The second period was rather quiet. The Rush started the second period with a goalie change. Adam Carlson entered the net and stopped all nine shots he saw in the second. On the other end, Cossa stopped all ten shots he saw in the second.

The third period only included one goal, which came 0:31 into the third from Trenton Bliss on a 5-on-3. The Rush outshot the Walleye 12-9 in the third but were outshot 32-28 in the game. Cossa and the Walleye shut out Rapid City 6-0 to take game two of the series.

Rush Continue to Struggle With Toledo’s Goaltenders

On Saturday, the Rush faced off against Toledo for the final time in this series, and regular season, for the annual Rush Fights Cancer night with 4777 fans in attendance, one of the highest-attended Rush games this season. Nevertheless, the struggle to find the back of the net continued. The Rush put Adam Carlson in net, and the Walleye returned to John Lethemon. Both goalies stood on their heads in the first, not allowing either team to score. In the first period, the Rush were outshot 8-16.

The second period started 0-0 though it did not end that way. 8:46 into the second, Carlson was left out to dry by Rush defense, which created a 3-on-1 for the Walleye. Brandon Hawkins was fed a shot from Gordie Green to get his 25th of the season, with a one-timer from the left circle to make it 1-0 for the Walleye. The Rapid City Rush then gave up the puck in the neutral zone sending off Andrew Sturtz on a breakaway. Sturtz converted on the breakaway, scoring his 16th of the season to give Toledo a 2-0 lead. The Rush were outshot 12-14 in the second.

Like Friday night, only one goal was scored in the third period. 17:08 into the third, the Rush pulled Adam Carlson for the extra skater. The Rush were able to defend their empty net and hold off Toledo for a little while, with forward Logan Nelson standing to defend the net. Eventually, Toledo got the empty netter at the 19:32 mark when Thomas Ebbing scored 3-0. The Rush outshot the Walleye 10-9 in the third but were outshot 39-30 in the game.

Rapid City was then shut out for the second night in a row and lost all six points from the series. With the lack of offense in the series, the Rush were outscored 14-1 in the series against the Walleye, taking their record to 22-26-1-0.

What Next?

The Rush are on the road for the next two weeks, and the next time they are in action is Friday the 24th when they will take on the Tulsa Oilers in a 3-in-3 in Tulsa. It is no secret that special teams have struggled for the Rush this season. Against Toledo, the Rush went 0/11 on the powerplay and are currently 23rd in the league with a 17.2% on the powerplay. As of recent games, the penalty kill has been a massive problem. However, it seems to have improved slightly as the Rush went 6/9 on the penalty kill against Toledo. The Rush’s penalty kill is currently last in the league.

While special teams are not the best, the road record for the Rush is pretty bad. Thus far, the Rush are 8-16-1-0 on the road. This week, they will take on Tulsa, who is 13-10-3-1 at home. This series will be a battle of the bottom of the Mountain division as the Rush are 6th in the Mountain division, and the Oilers are 7th in the division. The Oilers home penalty kill is 12th in the league at 81%, and their home powerplay is last in the league at 13.6%. On the other hand, the Rush’s road powerplay is 25th in the league at 14.6%, and their road penalty kill is 21st in the league at 75.7%. The good news is the Rush are 5-2-1-0 against Tulsa this season and 3-1-1-0 in Tulsa.

Coming into this series, the Rush have no healthy scratches or reserve players, and it may continue to be that way. Goaltender Daniil Chechelev is currently in the AHL with the Calgary Wranglers in relief of injured Wranglers goalie Oscar Dansk, and he will be there for the foreseeable future. We will most likely see Nicholas Latinovich in net again this weekend. Forwards Ilya Nikolaev, Rory Kerins, and Jon Martin still have a few weeks left before they return from their injuries, and Garrett Klotz is out the rest of the season. Defenseman Quinn Wichers, who is currently in the AHL with the San Diego Gulls, has been a solid defenseman for the Gulls, yet there is a chance he could return to the Rush for the games this weekend.

While the defense has struggled without Wichers, they still have what it takes to get the job done and help the team win. The Rush will need to step up and help in front of the goalie(s), as Tulsa is hot right now, coming off of a two-game sweep of the Wichita Thunder. The Rush have what it takes to beat Tulsa and know what it takes to beat Tulsa. Now they just have to use what they know and have to beat the Oilers.