Americans Fall In Shootout

AMERICANS FALL TO ARIZONA IN A SHOOTOUT 3-2

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Prescott Valley, Arizona – The Allen Americans are in Prescott Valley, Arizona this week for a pivotal three game set against the Arizona Sundogs which began Wednesday evening and will conclude Saturday night. Allen sits alone atop the Central Hockey League in first place with a 10-2-0 record for 20 points with Arizona at 7-4-3, trailing Allen by 3 points. While Allen still has two games in hand, this is a very important series for both clubs to gain some traction over the other.

A fairly quiet first period went nearly scoreless until the final minutes when Adam Pineault scored shorthanded for the Americans, unassisted at 17:27. The period ended with the Americans keeping the 1-0 lead but trailing Arizona in shots on goal by a count of 13-9.

The middle frame got off to a quick start for the Sundogs when Derek LeBlanc scored early in the second period on the power play to knot the score 1-1, assists went to David Schlemko and Chad Langlais at the 2:15 mark. Allen answered back four minutes later when Brian McMillin netted an odd angle shot off a feed from Jason Deitsch on the power play to give the Americans back the lead 2-1, which stood for the rest of the period. The Sundogs retained the edge in shots on goal in the second period at 10-7 and through both periods of play 23-16.

Despite multiple power play opportunities for both clubs through the third period, neither team could light the lamp until Arizona evened the game with 5:19 remaining in regulation. Arizona’s Jason Morgan redirected a shot past Steve Silverthorn in the Allen net with assists going to Gord Burnett and Jake Hauswirth to tie the game 2-2. The score remained unchanged through regulation and headed to overtime with Arizona continuing to control the shots on net with 7-5 in the period and 30-22 through three periods of play.

Allen was able to outshoot Arizona in extra time, putting 4 shots on net versus the Sundogs 3 but neither team could score so the game went to shootout. In the shootout, Arizona was able to net two markers to the Americans one to earn the victory. For Arizona, the goal scorers were Jason Morgan and David Schlemko who notched the game winner for the Sundogs. Allen’s lone goal scorer was Brett Skinner who continues to maintain his impressive scoring streak of at least a point in every game since opening night for the Americans for total of 5 goals, 14 assists, and 19 points in 13 games played.

Wednesday night’s contest marked a big milestone for one of the Americans stalwarts, as Jarret Lukin played in his 170th game for the Allen Americans. The game makes Lukin the longest serving Allen Americans player, where he has played since the team’s inaugural season.

The Allen Americans and Arizona Sundogs will pick up their series after Thanksgiving with the puck drop scheduled for 7:05PM Friday night.
Photo courtesy of Scenes by Kimberly