After the bye-week, the Rush are getting ready to kick off a home and home series this coming weekend against divisional rivals, the Colorado Mammoth. With a strong 3-1 record, the Mammoth sit in first place among the West Division. The Edmonton Rush trail close behind with a respectable 2-2 record leaving them in second place. This series of games could be very telling for the future of the West Division during the 2015 NLL campaign.
The first of the two games will take place on Friday at 7:00 PM (MST) at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. Following this, both teams will pack up and head back to Edmonton, Alberta for a 2:00 PM matinee on Sunday afternoon at Crystal Glass Field. With a pair of wins, the Rush could elevate themselves to the top spot in the West. The team has posted excellent statistics against the Mammoth, winning four of their last six games against the team. The pair of games this weekend marks the first of four games scheduled between the teams this season; April 18th in Edmonton, and May 2nd in Denver to conclude the regular season.
In the Rush’s last outing, a 12-9 win against the New England Black Wolves, they played a very dominant fourth quarter outscoring their opponents 6-0. Zack Greer lead this charge scoring a natural hat trick, with two of those goals scored only 41 seconds apart. He also added another goal and two assists.
Mark Matthews and Ben McIntosh, who was named January’s NLL Rookie of the Month, both contributed largely with 8-point performances. Cory Conway, Jarrett Davis, Chris Corbeil and Jeremy Thompson all scored single goals as well. McIntosh’s start to the season has been seemingly impressive. After a week off, he still sits first among rookie scoring.
Last season, Edmonton had their perfect 14-0 season broken by the Mammoth in a 10-8 loss on the road. Colorado veteran and offensive star John Grant Jr. had four goals in that victory.
Week 7 in the NLL is shaping up to be an important one. Rush Head Coach and General Manager Derek Keenan believes although the team got rolling, the bye week will have had a good impact on his players. He also noted his opinion about the interesting scheduling of a home and home series this weekend.
“These are the ideal back-to-backs, I really wish we did more of these. It’s a completely level playing field. It’s not like you’re going into a place on the second night with a rested team and sometimes it can work the other way as well where the team that played the night before is much sharper,” Keenan said.
“It brings on great rivalry. We have great rivalries in our West Division as it is, but it really adds to that.” Keenan will have his troops ready to go Friday night, looking to start the series off on a high note.
With all teams in action this week, another Western Division clash will take place Saturday night between the 0-5 Roughnecks still looking for their first win against the Vancouver Stealth, who seem to be heating up quickly. The Toronto Rock and Minnesota Swarm will also play a home and home series this weekend starting Friday night at the Xcel Center in Minnesota.
