WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF FINGERNAILS!


*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.

It looked like it was going to be a great night for the Allen fans at the BOK yesterday, but it turned out to be another nail biter.  Before an official crowd of 4870, the Tulsa Oilers got back into the game in the second period to cut the American's 2-0 lead in half.  But Allen was not satisfied with a 1 goal lead and scored their 3rd goal in the 2nd.  Looking much better than Saturday night, Allen would score another in the 3rd making the score 4-2.  Allen would come out the victors but not before an exciting last few minutes as Tulsa scored again to make the score 4-3.  This concluded the American's 7th game in 10 nights!

“We needed this one,” said Americans Captain Chad Costello following the teams eighth road win of the season. We were embarrassed with our performance last night at home so coming out strong at the beginning and setting the tone for the game was important.” (quote courtesy of the Allen Americans Professional Hockey website).


The game was quite chippy, more on the Oilers side, as Tulsa had 29 penalty minutes and Allen only 17.  The fight between Mathieu Gagnon and Dyson Stevenson deserves honorable mention. 

(photo courtesy of Kevin Pyle)

Game Recap:

• Goal 1 - started by Jacob Poe with a pass to Casey Pierro-Zabotel. Zabotel carried the puck across the blue line drawing the Tulsa defensemen, then firing a pass to Chad Costello streaking down the right side.  The assist was Poe's first point as a professional.  Way to go Jacob!
• Goal 2- power play goal started by a booming one timer from the point by Eric Roy. Roy's shot bounced off Vincent Arseneau and was controlled by Jonathan Parker who beat Tulsa's goalie, Kevin Carr to the wide side.  Even after being struck by Roy's shot, Arseneau continued to set up a screen of Carr making him unable to locate the puck.
• Goal 3- Tulsa goal by Gagnon after a pass from behind the net by Adam Pleskach.  Ayrton Nikkel made a good effort to disrupt the play, laying out his entire 6'1" frame in an attempt to block the pass to Pleskach.
• Goal 4 - (Allen's 3rd), started by Justin Courtnall taking the puck up the ice with some impressive stick handling.  He made a pass to Costello in the right corner, and Costello made his patented no-look pass through 2 Oiler defenders finding Pierro-Zabotel who burried the puck in the net.
• Goal 5- Arseneau, after setting up another beautiful screen of Carr, scored Allen's 4th goal on a rebound from Costello's shot from the left face off circle.  
• Goal 6- was a power play goal from Tulsa's Pleskach scoring on a rebound of a slap shot by Dennis Brown from outside the face off circle.  
• Goal 7 - Christophe Lalancette scored on a scramble in front of the net lofting the puck over a "stickless" Joel Rumpel.
• Allen continued its' undefeated streak when scoring first (10-0) and leading after one (6-0). This demonstrates when we start strong we are victorious.
• With Costello's 1 goal and 2 assists last night, Chad leads the entire league in points (23) and assists (17).  He extended his league leading road streak for points and assists to 9 which dates back to Oct. 23rd.
• Joel Rumpel continued his league lead in wins (10)  and is 2nd in minutes played (853).  
• Allen equaled their total shots on goal from Saturday's game in 2 periods on Sunday (21). 
• Schultz left the ice in the first period and did not return, Baker left the ice in the second period, returned, and left the ice again less than a minute later.  He, also, did not return.

The Americans will hold practice on Tuesday and Wednesday this week at 10 a.mat the AEC..

Coach Martinson's post-game comments:

• Pretty solid game
• Short bench caught up to us in the 3rd after losing (Ian) Schultz and Baker,
• Dyson Stevenson was a huge part in our top line in last years' playoff run.  If we had 20 guys with his "team first" attitude we would be undefeated.

This will be our final blog until Friday, November 27th.  We wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

Did you know - Some of the first commercial hockey sticks were honed by Mi'Kmaq carvers in Nova Scotia in the mid 1800's, using wood from the hornbeam tree.