A Saturday SaskTel Centre showdown against the Stealth

It’s game three of a four-game season series with the Rush winning the first two, which isn’t surprising since Saskatchewan sits atop the NLL standings at 9-2 and the cellar-dwelling Stealth is at 1-10.

Game one on February 3 was the back end of a weekend doubleheader which started with a Rush win in Colorado. The Rush battled fatigue and jet lag posting an 11-9 setback over the Stealth at SaskTel Centre.

A month later on a Stealth hosted Saturday night in Vancouver, the Rush rolled to a 16-9 win as Saskatchewan streaked to leads of 6-0 after the first quarter and 9-1 midway through the second quarter.

In both games, Robert Church was an offensive force. The super sniping forward who is third in the league’s points race with 61, has 5 goals and 10 assists in the two games against Vancouver. Another constant over the two games was the Saskatchewan power play at 5-for-7.

The 71 percent proficiency against Vancouver is four points shy of a staggering 75-percent success rate over the first 11 games of the 2018 season. The Rush have also controlled face-offs, winning 62-percent in the season series.

Logan Schuss led the Vancouver attack against the Rush with six goals and four assists over the two games which accounts for almost a third of his 2018 overall total of 28 points in nine games.

The Rush leads second-place Colorado by 2 1/2 games in the West Division with the Mammoth playing twice this weekend, Saskatchewan also has a 2 1/2 game edge on Buffalo atop the overall standings.

The Stealth are desperately seeking success in Saskatchewan hoping to pull to within three games of idle Calgary for the final West Division playoff spot.

Opening face-off is at SaskTel Centre is at 7;30, with the Rush-Hour pregame show on 98-COOL on the air at 6;30.