RAPID CITY - One last hurrah.

The Rapid City Rush, chasing the Rocky Mountain Rage for a sliver-thin chance at a Central Hockey League Northern Conference playoff spot, square off one last time against the Rage tonight at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Ice Arena.

Face-off is set for 7:05 p.m., for the ninth and final matchup of the season between the Rush and the Rage.

Rocky Mountain is 27-22-4, with 58 points for a solid second in the Northwest Division behind Colorado.

The Rage has clinched the season series with Rapid City 5-3, but head coach Tracy Egeland sees the two division rivals as evenly matched.

Three of the eight games have gone to overtime or a shootout, as the Rage won the first game in a shootout between the teams, 4-3.

"The team with the lead in the third period isn't always the one that wins," Egeland said. "Perseverance by both teams is what usually pays off.

"It should be a great game," Egeland said. "Right down to the wire like the rest of them have been."

The Rush (17-26-8) trail Rocky Mountain by 16 points for third in the division. Rapid City is five points ahead of the Wichita Thunder, who are set to be in Rapid City for a weekend set on Friday and Saturday.

"Obviously, they're hitting on all cylinders right now. They have a lot of offense up front," said Rush head coach Joe Ferras. "And with their power play, we have to stay out of the box."

Both the Rush and Rage are coming off weekend splits. Tulsa steamrolled Rapid City with four unanswered goals en route to a 5-3 win over the Rush on Friday night.

Rapid City rebounded by putting a 5-1 beatdown on the Oilers on Saturday night.

"We played physical in the third period, but it was too little, too late," said Ferras of the Friday loss. "For the first 40 minutes, we were invisible."

On Saturday, Matt Zultek scored twice for the Rush and goalie Lanny Ramage tallied 35 saves for his third win of the season in net for Rapid City in the win over Tulsa.

"We set the tone right away being physical, finishing checks and cycling the puck with a lot of traffic at the net," Ferras said.

Rocky Mountain handed Northwest division-leader Colorado its fifth straight setback 4-3 on Friday night, then bowed 4-2 to the Eagles on Saturday.

Both teams have made recent roster moves as the season enters its final month.

Rapid City claimed forward Derek Legault off waivers from the Arizona Sundogs, where in 36 games he tallied one goal and 14 assists for 15 points and 28 penalty minutes before being waived on Feb. 19.

Legault is expected to be in the lineup for tonight's game against Rocky Mountain.

"He skates and moves well. We hope to have him in the back for us and hopefully he can create some offense for us," Ferras said.

Also, Rush defenseman Eric Nelson has been granted a leave of absence by the league, for what head coach Joe Ferras described as family reasons.

Nelson, a 6-foot-1, 201-pound defenseman from Big Lake, Manitoba, started the season on the Rush's training camp injured list and was signed to the active roster on Nov. 29.

In 34 games with the Rush, Nelson scored six points, all assists, and accumulated 32 penalty minutes.

Rush leading scorer Rich Hansen is day-to-day after suffering a lower body injury by blocking a shot during Friday night's 5-3 loss to Tulsa. Hansen returned to action on Friday night but was not in the lineup the following night.

Rocky Mountain on Tuesday waived defenseman Kai Magnussen, obtained in early December in a trade with Tulsa, and signed forward Nathan Gillies.

In January, the Rage dealt leading scorer Brent Cullaton to Laredo. Currently leading the Rage are left-winger Colt King (23 goals and 31 assists for 54 points) and center Daymen Rycroft (24-27-51).