The one key to victory that Allen did deliver on was getting traffic to the net. The end result was a well deserved come from behind win for the Americans. After trailing 2-0 at the end of the first period the comeback started when Tyler Barr got his second goal of the season at the 2:45 mark of the second period. Chad Costello evened the score midway through the second period on the power play with his 27 goal of the season. The teams headed to the locker room after the second period with the score tied 2-2.
Allen had a great opportunity to take the lead early in the third period when Quad City was given a five minute major penalty. The Mallards were able to kill off the penalty and the momentum was definitely in their favor until Chad Costello got loose for a breakaway and deked the goalie for the game winning goal at 9:35 of the third period. Kyle Follmer scored fourth goal at the 17:50 mark to put the game away for Allen.
Quad City coach Terry Ruskowski was not happy with the officiating according to an article in the Quad City Times written by Bobby Metcalf. Riley Gill was given a minor slashing penalty on a play the Mallards thought should have been a major penalty. According to the article Ruskowski talked to referee Kenny Anderson following the altercation but wasn't given much explanation. "He
said it wasn't worth the penalty," Ruskowski said. "He skated away.
There was no harm done, so it wasn't a penalty. Something's got to be
done. This is ridiculous."
Referee Anderson didn't make things
better after giving Mallards forward Paxton Leroux a game misconduct for
being an aggressor after an altercation with Garrett Clarke. Clarke and
Leroux were in a physical matchup away from the play early in the third
period before Leroux knocked Clarke down with one punch. Clarke lay on
the ice for several minutes before being helped off but would return
later in the game.
Ruskowski said he couldn't see the hit but plans on sending clips of both instances into the league office. It is nice to see someone besides coach Martinson upset with the officiating and sending clips to the league office.
STEVE MARTINSON'S POST GAME COMMENTS
- It was another tough start for us giving up two goals in the first period. Quad City capitalized on mistakes we made on the penalty kill for two power play goals.
- The goal by Tyler Barr early in the second period was big. It not only got us back in the game but it was a goal we got by getting traffic to the net which we have not been doing a lot lately.
- We had three goals with traffic to the net which was the key to the comeback. We missed on a lot of good plays as well.
- Patrik Valcak was good tonight with three assists. He is getting more comfortable and starting to make plays. He is also excellent on faceoffs. (Valcak was named the #2 star of the game)
OTHER COMMENTS
- Chad Costello continues his assault on the Allen Americans record book. With his two goals last night he now has 87 points to lead the ECHL scoring race by 28 points. Chad already has the Allen single season record for assists and is now just one point from tying the points record of 88 held by Colton Yellow Horn. Chad has 28 goals on the season which places him fifth all time in goals scored.
- You have probably heard by now that Brett Lyon was traded yesterday to the Brampton Beast for defenseman Steve Tarasuk. Tarasuk was with Allen last year during the playoffs and is a puck moving defenseman that is familiar with Martinson's system. It will be the fourth team this season for Tarasuk who started in Italy ( 7 games) then signed with Missouri (10 games) and then signed with Brampton (16 games) before being traded to Allen. According to coach Martinson, Lyon was expendable because Allen had two players (Clarke the other) who played a similar style and when Tyler Barr was signed to be a more traditional tough guy Lyon was the player that was traded.
- Since Brampton is on the way to Allen for a game on Saturday Tarasuk will load his stuff on the bus and hitch a ride to Allen with the Beast. Lyon and Tarasuk will just switch locker rooms on Saturday.
- The 6th Annual "Battle of the Badges" charity game is Saturday between the Allen Police and Fire Departments. Game time is 5:05 pm so come early and watch what has been an entertaining game in the past. The Police vs Fire game will be followed by Allen vs Brampton at 7:05. One ticket gets you into both games.
- Jack Combs played his first game for Stockton last night as the Thunder lost to Utah 4-1. Jack, who is wearing #91 for Stockton, had no points and three shots on goal.
- If Aaron Dell had enough minutes played in the AHL to qualify for the leader board (Aaron has played 761 minutes and you need 1020 to qualify) he would have the second best GAA in the AHL at 1.81 and the fourth best save percentage in the AHL at .931.
- With injuries, loans and call ups to the AHL you can see ECHL teams change dramatically overnight and a team that was struggling is all of a sudden unbeatable. South Carolina is a good example as they lost nine of ten games and then went on a ten game winning streak. They have the longest current winning streak in the ECHL. South Carolina is only two games away from the longest winning streak in the league all year.
- Happy birthday to Brian McMillin who turns 27 today. Brian is working hard rehabilitating his broken kneecap and looking forward to getting back in the line up.
DID YOU KNOW: Chad Costello currently leads the ECHL in scoring with 87 points and has a 28 point lead over second place. In the last twelve years the largest margin of victory in the ECHL scoring race has been 16 points. Also, you have to go back to 2009-2010 to find an ECHL leading scorer with more than 100 points. Here are the leading scorers by year.
2014-2015: 87 points - Chad Costello (only 52 games)
2013-2014: 88 points - Brandon Marino
2012-2013: 89 points - Roy Mathieu
2011-2012: 85 points - Dustin Gazley
2010-2011: 94 points - Justin Donati
2009-2010: 114 points - Tyler Donati
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