The Saskatchewan Rush will compete in the post season after defeating the Vancouver Warriors 12-9 on Saturday at SaskTel Centre.
Saskatchewan dominated the first half, taking a 10-2 lead. Robert Church had a huge first half with four goals and three assists.
“I have a pretty high standard for myself and I don't think I've been meeting them this year, so it was nice to go out and play my game,” Church said.
Also scoring for the Rush in the first half were Ryan Keenan and Jeff Shattler with a pair each. Mark Matthews and Ben McIntosh each had single goals.
Keegan Bal and Jean-Luc Chetner scored for Vancouver. The Warriors starting goaltender Eric Penney was pulled early in the second quarter in favour of back up Aaron Bold.
Adam Shute once again got the start in goal for the Rush as Evan Kirk continues to recover from a lower body injury. Shute allowed only two goals in the first half on 15 shots.
“Each game you’re getting more and more comfortable, you aren’t as tense,” Shute said. “I felt a lot looser starting the game today than I did in previous games.”
The wheels started to fall off in the second half for the Rush as they were outscored 7-2.
“Tonight we stopped playing, especially on offense. We basically got what we wanted in the first half. I think we had 35 shots on goal and then we stood around,” said Rush head coach and general manager Derek Keenan.
Tempers began to flare early in the third as Vancouver’s Owen Barker illegally body checked Jeremy Thompson. Nik Bilic immediately dropped the gloves to stick up for his teammate.
“That's my roommate and my teammate, Jeremy, and the guy took a liberty on him so I had to back him up and that's what teams are made of and that's what pushes you to the next level of being a team,” Bilic said.
Logan Schuss, Mitch Jones and Tony Malcom went on a three-goal run for the Warriors to open the third quarter before McIntosh scored to break the momentum.
In the fourth quarter, Vancouver got goals out of Jones, Jordan McBride and a pair from Bal. Shattler would round out the scoring on an empty net goal with 25 seconds left in the game.
With the win, the Rush now sits alone in second place in the West Division and can finish no lower than the fourth place and final playoff spot.
“That's goal number one to start the year, so now we have to keep winning and hopefully do our best to get the one seed if not the two seed and have a home playoff game here because we are tough to beat in this building,” Church said.
The Rush is back in action on Saturday, April 6, when they travel to Denver to face the Colorado Mammoth.
