Americans Let One Get Away, Martinson's Post Game Comments & More

The headlines will read something like Tulsa fights back to beat Allen 5-4 in a shootout. While it is always good to get a point on the road the game last night is one Allen let get away. Consider the following facts. Allen scored the first goal of the game and they are usually lights out after scoring the first goal as they were 10-1 going into this game. Allen out shot Tulsa 41-34. Allen dominated special teams play with two power play goals in five attempts while holding Tulsa scoreless in four power play attempts. Allen gave up one goal leads twice in the third period. Allen was held scoreless in the shootout with Steffes, Combs, Costello, Schaafsma and Schultz all being stopped by Tulsa goaltender Kevin Carr.

STEVE MARTINSON'S POST GAME COMMENTS:

- I thought this was a game we should have won as we had lots of chances.

- The ice was terrible which made the puck take a bunch of bad bounces. It must have been from concerts in the building. It was bad for both teams but made for a tough night.

- We had some bad breaks as a defenseman fell down, they scored off a face off and then a tipped goal to tie the game.

- We let them in the offensive zone way too easy on that last goal as we need more pressure up ice. We need to work on that in practice.

- It is not good giving up four goals. Time to get back to work defensively.

OTHER COMMENTS:

- Tulsa had no answer for Allen's top line as they scored all four goals in the game. Coach Ramsay said in his pregame interview the Oilers would use last change to play a much more physical game against Combs, Costello, and Schultz. That strategy didn't work very well as they each scored a goal and the fourth goal was scored by Gary Steffes when he was playing with Combs and Costello while Schultz was in the penalty box after taking care of one of the Oilers (Charles Lachance) who was  trying to play physical against his line.

- Jack Combs had a four point night (1 goal 3 assists) to increase his lead in the ECHL scoring race to five points. Combs has 32 points (12 goals 20 assists).

- December has been good to Chad Costello so far. In three games he has seven points (5 goals 2 assists).

- Allen has four players in the top thirteen in goals scored: Combs (12), Steffes (12), Costello (11), Hanson (10).

- Allen has more defensemen ranked in the top 20 in scoring for defensemen than any other team in the league. Kevin Young (14 points), Tyler Ludwig (12 points), Aaron Gens (12 points) and Justin Baker (11 points) are all in the top 20.

- Allen has not allowed a power play goal in the last four games. The Americans have killed off 26 straight power play opportunities in those four games.

- Brett Lyon continues to lead the ECHL in penalty minutes with 101. Second place is a familiar name as Darryl Bootland holds down that spot with 94 penalty minutes.

- In other Central Division action last night Rapid City beat Quad City 3-2 and Brampton beat Wichita 4-1. Allen is still leading the division with 27 points followed by Tulsa with 25 points and Wichita with 20 points.

- Alex Lavoie was a healthy scratch for Florida last weekend for a couple of games but was activated on Wednesday. He has five points (1 goal 4 assists) in the two games since returning to the line up. On Wednesday Alex assisted on all three goals as Florida beat Kalamazoo 3-1. It is a tough situation for Alex as Florida has a double AHL affiliation (Charlotte & Syracuse) so a lot of contracted players get assigned to Florida who happens to have the best record in the ECHL. But if given the chance Alex will excel.


DID YOU KNOW: Allen's penalty kill is tops in the ECHL at 89.1% and is significantly higher than any of the five years the Americans played in the CHL. Here is how they finished each year in the CHL:
2009-2010 - 83.44%
2010-2011 - 82.80%
2011-2012 - 83.46%
2012-2013 - 85.67%
2013-2014 - 82.06%