By Scott Zerr, Saskatchewan Rush,

Yes, a winless opponent might just cure what is ailing a team suffering some early-season doldrums.

There’s also an old adage about taking an opponent too lightly and getting a bit on the backside that comes to mind.

The Saskatchewan Rush are facing such a situation on Saturday night. They are the team on the road, heading into not just hostile territory, but they are the enviable three-time NLL-champions who will stand across from the New York Riptide, an expansion team set for its long-anticipated home-opener and longing for the same long-term success the Rush have enjoyed since their own inception. It’s a somewhat daunting task for both teams and the Rush don’t want to let any team – new to the league or not – get the upper hand.

“Any given night, right?” said Rush GM/Head Coach Derek Keenan. “In this league, any team can win each night. We’re going to have to be at our best. We’ve talked about it already. You can’t go into a game expecting to roll over someone just because they’re an expansion team. It’s not going to happen and we’re going to need to be prepared.”

The Rush had a strong showing in their first road test of the year, dodging past the Colorado Mammoth on the league’s opening night. But the New England Black Wolves spoiled the Rush’s home-opener last week on a night when the home squad’s offence was stuck in a snowdrift. If there was ever a time to take out some frustration on the opposition, this would be it.

“It’s never a bad thing to have a reality check early on in the year,” said two-time 40-goal man Ben McIntosh, one of five Rush forwards who didn’t hit the back of the net against the Black Wolves.

“We got beat pretty bad last week, especially in the first half. This league is tight. Any team can win on any night, so if we go into New York thinking it’s going to be anything but a battle for 60 minutes, we’re going to be walking away sitting at 1-2 and feeling that same disappointment we had last weekend.”

The Riptide opened with road losses in Halifax and Vancouver, and face New England just 24 hours before hosting the Rush. Hardly a gentle welcome to the NLL. As if that’s not challenging enough, they’ll be getting a Rush club pretty bitter after that home-turf loss to New England – a game in which very little went right in Rush Nation. With the offence shooting blanks and starter Evan Kirk giving up six goals on 18 shots, the Rush wound up down 9-4 at halftime. The final 30 minutes were better but they never got close enough to reel in the Wolves.

If the Rush under-estimated New England, they’ll certainly have learned their lesson heading into a clash with a developing newcomer.

“You can’t take any team lightly in this league. New York is a competitive team. We know they will play us tough,” said the Rush’s Marty Dinsdale.

“I think right now, we have to focus on what we can do on our end to be prepared. If we play a complete game, we like our chances against anyone in this league. But it’s playing a full 60 minutes that’s the hard part and something we will strive for.”

The Rush fared well against expansion teams a year ago, taking two of three games from the San Diego Seals and also notching a home-turf win against the Philadelphia Wings. Even if the Riptide are 0-3 by the time they meet the Rush, they’ll certainly be revved up for their first home tilt, not to mention having a perennial contender with a target on their backs coming to town.

BYES BE GONE: The schedule isn’t doing the Rush any favours when it comes to gaining momentum as they have a bye weekend after each of their first three games. They then play two games in six days – a Sunday matinee in San Diego followed a Saturday home tilt against Colorado – before having a wonky two-week bye before another home game against Colorado. Added up, it’s just six games over 11 weeks, but Coach Keenan has made it clear that his team must find a way to maintain a level of sharpness despite the gaps in the action.

POWER SHORTAGE: It was a sore point with the Rush a year ago and this season is starting out in similar fashion. The Rush were awarded only one power-play against New England after going 3-for-4 against Colorado. Last season, the Rush drew a league-low 54 power plays yet still led the NLL by going 57.4% on the man-advantage netting 31 power-play goals.