Rapid City Rush Look to Bounce Back on the Road

The Rapid City Rush are looking to bounce back after being swept on home ice for their home opening weekend.

Last Weekend

The Rapid City Rush hosted the Kansas City Mavericks for their 2023-24 home opening weekend. The Rush went into the weekend hoping to get four points but ended up only getting one. The Rush came out fast and were hitting hard, but when it came to puck control, they struggled. They struggled with passing the puck to each other, causing many turnovers. This caused them to spend the majority of the game in their own zone on defense. Rush goaltenders Connor Murphy and Matt Radomsky stood on their heads and kept the Rush in the game as they faced a total of 96 shots through two games. The Rush lost 2-3 the first night and 3-4 in overtime the second night.

The Rush also struggled with special teams as they went 2/5 on the penalty kill, but they did go 1/3 on the powerplay. With the Rush already spending a lot of their game in the defensive zone, they struggled that much more on the penalty kill. While their penalty kill seemed to play alright, they just could not fully kill off the penalty before Kansas City scored. The Rush did not get to spend a lot of time on the powerplay as they were only given three powerplays. The Rush did have some good looks on their powerplay, but they just could not find the back of the net.

Possible Milestone

The Rush may see Jimmy Soper hit 100 career ECHL points the week. Soper has played in 168 ECHL games, where he has 41 goals and 58 assists for 99 points. He has 185 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +9. With the Rush, Soper has played in 32 games, where he has nine goals and 13 assists for 22 points. He has 31 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +10. So far this season, Soper has played in all four games where he has two goals and one assist for three points. He has two penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +1.

This Week

The Rapid City Rush hit the road this week to take on the Kansas City Mavericks and Tulsa Oilers. The Rush are now 0-2 against the Mavericks and are headed to Independence, Missouri, to take on the Mavericks on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday. The Rush struggled this weekend against the Mavericks but are looking to get back at them in their home arena. In Rapid, the Rush were able to keep the score pretty even, even though both shot and puck possession were majorly slanted toward the Mavericks. This week, the Rush really need to focus on keeping control of the puck, passing to their teammates better, and communicating more with each other. If the Rush are able to get more puck possession and control this week against the Mavericks, they could earn some points in Missouri. Kansas City has already proved to the Rush that they are a great team, and now the Rush need to prove to Kansas City that they are also a great team.

The Rush will then head to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to take on the Tulsa Oilers. This will be the first time that the teams see each other this season. Tulsa is off to a rough start with a record of 1-3 and will play the Allen Americans on Thursday and Friday before they see the Rush. Tulsa will have a home-ice advantage and will have a day between their games with Allen and their game with the Rush. That being said, the Oilers will have time to rest a little bit before playing the Rush, where as the Rush will not get a day between their games to rest and will be playing their first 3-in-3 (three games in three days) series of the season. This could really be a test of the endurance of the Rush and a test of how well they are able to make sure they do not completely wear themselves out in the first or second game of three. In order to bring home more points than their opponents, the Rush will need to make sure they play their game, not their opponents, play a full 60 minutes (or more) and play hard without wearing themselves out before their game against the Oilers.

Week Schedule Summary

The Rush will take on the Kansas City Mavericks on Tuesday, October 31, at 6:05 MST. Then, they will meet the Mavericks again on Friday, November 3, at 6:35 MST and for the final time of the series at 5:05 MST on Saturday, November 4. All three games will be in Independence, Missouri. The Rush will then travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to take on the Tulsa Oilers on Sunday, November 5, at 3:05 MST.