Chris Gill
Jimmy Quinlan
For the Rush (6-8) to get in, they'll need to sweep their two games this weekend. First it's a Friday road game in Portland against the cellar-dwelling LumberJax (3-12) and then it's the finale at home against the Calgary Roughnecks (7-7). Two wins and the Rush finish fourth and they'll meet either Colorado (11-3) or Arizona (9-5) in the division semifinal.
But the Rush can also get in with a split of their two games. If the Rush lose to Portland and the Roughnecks lose in Arizona on Friday, then it comes down to a one-game showdown in the Battle of Alberta. In that case, an Edmonton victory over the Roughnecks in the last game would leave both teams with 7-9 records, but the Rush would advance thanks to their two wins over Calgary.
Chris Gill is on a torrid scoring pace as the regular season winds down. The Rush's leading scorer (36-24-60) has scored 14 goals in the last four games, including six against the Roughnecks last Friday at the Saddledome. One night later in San Jose, Gill clicked for three goals although his second of the game, coming just 23 seconds into the fourth quarter, was the most memorable. It was the 300th goal of Gill's NLL career and he became only the eighth player in league history to reach that milestone.
Jimmy Quinlan (18-28-46) and Dan Stroup (24-19-43) stand second and third in Rush scoring while some strong performances of late have moved Jason Wulder into the team lead for assists with 29. He overtook Randy Daly who has missed the last four games due to an ankle injury. Wulder and Gill also moved over the 500-point plateau in recent action.
The Rush won the only previous meeting with the LumberJax this season. Ryan O'Connor netted the winner as the Rush came out on top 9-8 in overtime at Rexall Place. Gill and Stroup each had four points in that victory.
The Rush are 1-1 on the year against the Roughnecks with both games ending 13-12 and both seeing the visiting team come out on top. Wulder had six points against his former club in the Calgary's victory and he then chipped in five during the Rush's win. Jamey Bowen has two goals and eight assists against the Roughnecks this season and he is the Rush's all-time leading scorer against Calgary with 26 points in six games.
Prior to the start of Saturday's game, the Rush will announce their year-end team awards. The awards are: Most Valuable Player Top Scorer Top Defensive Player Top Transition Player Unsung Hero Community Service
There will also be one special presentation during the awards ceremony.
