*Please note while Barry's name remains at the bottom of this blog, he is on vacation and the information/views posted in his absence do not reflect Barry's views or the views of the Allen Americans organization.
Wow! What a comeback! The first period was pretty much like the first period of Saturday's game. Allen was getting traffic in front of the net, and were controlling play. But, just like Saturday, nothing would go past Joe Cannata. Cannata's objective was to shut out Allen again. Little did he know, Allen had other plans. Allen would go on to halt Ontario's 7 game home winning streak and undefeated record when leading after the 1st and 2nd periods. Allen finally was able to win the battle of time and space that Ontario controlled in the 3 prior games.
Game observations:
Ontario scored first which would be their only PP goal of the night. They would score for the last time at 14:30 of the second period as Allen completely shut them down for the remainder of the game.
Justin Baker opened the scoring at 6:26 of the second on a breakaway against the suddenly human Joe Cannata. It was Allen's first goal in over 10 periods. Baker had 1 goal, 2 assists, and was a +3 for the night. Baker was named 1st star of the game.
Allen's 2nd goal scored by Chad Costello involved a deflection off Ontario's defenseman Kyle Bigos. Costello was named 2nd star of the game.
Goal 3 was classic Gary Steffes, going top shelf off the crossbar on Cannata.
Goal 4 was scored by Spencer Asuchak on a beautifully executed tic-tac-toe resulting from a 4 on 1 odd man rush.
Goal 5 was an empty netter by Chris Crane. In addition to the goal, Chris was a +3 for the night.
6th goal was a PP goal by Spencer Asuchak, which tied him for the playoff lead in PP goals. This goal was scored when Kyle Bigos was off the ice. Bigos was penalized for unsportsman-like conduct after Crane scored the empty netter. Bigos leads the league in playoff penalty minutes (65), 12 more PIMs than Utah's Matt Pelech who stands second at 53.
Hit of the night involved Aaron Gens sending Judd Blackwater airborne on a perfectly legal check in the 2nd period.
The five goals scored in the 3rd period leads (tied with Reading) the league in playoffs for most goals scored in 1 period.
For the night Allen's 6 goals were scored on just 21 shots for a scoring percentage of 21.4. Allen's 2nd & 3rd goals were scored in less than 1 minute, and all 5 goals of the third period were in less than 11 minutes. This was accomplished in only 9 shots.
Ontario's Matt Register, who leads all defensemen, in playoff points and goals, was a -3 for the night, and held to only 1 SOG. The previous game he was a +2 with 4 shots. Allen successfully shut him down for the evening.
Although Coach Martinson is unavailable to comment for this blog, he had the following comments about Saturday night's game (quoted by George Alfano of The Press Enterprise)- "In last night's game, they made good plays and we didn't. I thought we played well in game 2 but their goaltender kept making saves".
Did you know: Ontario coach, Jason Christie, was CHL Coach of the Year in 2010-2011 as coach of the Bloomington Prairie Thunder and was inducted into the Peoria Rivermen Hall of Fame the same year. And according to hockeyDB, he played professional roller hockey for the New England Stingers in 1994.
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