The number of penalties were just one phase of what was an unusual game to say the least. Here are a few others:
- The Americans had three goals disallowed during the game. Not sure of the exact circumstances about the calls as there was no public address explanation other than one call for goalie interference. On one of the disallowed goals the entire Allen team was celebrating, the goal light was on and yet the referee ruled no goal.
- Vincent Arseneau had two goals disallowed and it appeared the referee got both calls wrong. The first was a shot that went in the net and came right back out. If you watch the reaction of the players it is obvious that puck was in the net. For some reason the goal judge, who turned on the goal light, must have changed his mind when the referee consulted with him. On Arseneau's second non-goal he was called for goalie interference and the replay clearly shows he was outside of the crease and did not interfere with the goalie. He was crosschecked into the goalie after the puck was already in the net.
- Vincent Arseneau had two goals disallowed and it appeared the referee got both calls wrong. The first was a shot that went in the net and came right back out. If you watch the reaction of the players it is obvious that puck was in the net. For some reason the goal judge, who turned on the goal light, must have changed his mind when the referee consulted with him. On Arseneau's second non-goal he was called for goalie interference and the replay clearly shows he was outside of the crease and did not interfere with the goalie. He was crosschecked into the goalie after the puck was already in the net.
- Allen had a 9-7 edge in shots on goal in the first period but neither team could score.
- Tulsa out shot Allen 19-9 in the second period, 10-5 in the third period and 4-1 in overtime for a game total of 41-24.
- Allen's league leading penalty kill gave up two power play goals (2-5) after giving up just five power play goals to Tulsa in the previous 13 games.
- It took seven rounds in the shootout before Tulsa's Ben Walker got the game winner.
- Tulsa scored the first goal of the game midway through the second period but Allen took a 2-1 lead on goals by Chad Costello (23) and Tristan King (11) only to have Tulsa tie the score at the 13:13 mark of the third period on their second power play goal.
- You can see the highlights (including the fights) by going to the Rewind Section at: http://www.echl.com/
- You can see the highlights (including the fights) by going to the Rewind Section at: http://www.echl.com/
- Both teams will be in Allen for a rematch this afternoon with a puck drop at 4:05 pm. It will be the 15th and final time these teams meet in the regular season. It will also be the third game in less than 48 hours for both teams. It is the kind of game where conditioning and "want" trump skill.
- Steve Martinson's post game comments were primarily related to the officiating so won't post them here. The most aggravating of the calls was the ruling of no goal on the shot taken by Vincent Arseneau. On that goal Martinson could see the net move from the bench.
ALLEN VS TULSA GAME PREVIEW
- There will be some roster changes for the game this afternoon. Eric Roy did not make the trip to Tulsa after sustaining an upper body injury on Friday and is not expected to play today. Jamie Murray is headed back to school after playing great in his first four professional games. His results will show just one victory and two shootout losses but his GAA is 1.44 to go along with a .963 save percentage.
- Joel Rumpel was assigned to Allen yesterday by San Jose and will be in Allen for the game this afternoon. Joel played in two games during his first AHL call up. He had a win and an overtime loss. Look for Rumpel to get the start in goal this afternoon.
- According to coach Martinson you can expect to see his newly signed forward, Kyle Nueber, at the AEC this afternoon as he is flying in this morning. A final decision will be made once he arrives at the rink if he will be in the lineup, but Coach Martinson expects he will play. Neuber, who is 6' 3' and weighs 250 pounds, just finished his collegiate career at the University of Guelph which is in Ontario.
- You can look at yesterday's blog post to get all of the statistical comparisons between Tulsa and Allen but wanted to point out the importance of special teams in the game today. If you look at the ECHL stats, Allen has a big advantage with a much better overall power play percentage than Tulsa (21.2% to 13.2%). If you look at Allen's home power play percentage (19.2%) versus Tulsa's road power play percentage (7.0%) the advantage is even greater. If you look at the 14 head to head games between these teams Allen is 7-48 (14.6%) on the power play and Tulsa is 7-49 (14.3%). Last night Tulsa won the special teams battle going 2-4 while Allen was 1-4. With the #1 power play in the ECHL and the #2 penalty kill it is imperative the Americans capitalize on this advantage this afternoon.
- Expect Tulsa to be a desperate team this afternoon as they are fighting for a playoff spot. They are currently on the outside looking in. They are ninth in the Western Conference standings but trail eighth place Quad City by just three points with two games in hand.
- Officials scheduled for the game are referee Nic Leduc (#14) and linesmen Mitch Macpherson (#48) and Alex Black (#63). Puddifant was the referee last night in Allen.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Despite losing to Alaska on Friday and Tulsa on Saturday, picking up a point in each game was crucial for Allen in the battle for the fourth seed in the Western Conference. Allen has been able to maintain a six point lead in that race. Here are the current standings with games remaining:
79 points: Allen (8 games remaining)
73 points: Cincinnati (10 games)
73 points: Utah (8 games)
70 points: Colorado (9 games)
68 points: Quad City (10 games)
- Missouri lost to Wichita last night 4-2. It was their second straight regulation loss and the first time that has happened all season. With home ice advantage all but wrapped up throughout the playoffs not sure if the team is having a letdown or resting players or both. The Mavericks quest to set the all time ECHL record for most points in a season which seemed certain just a few games ago is now in jeopardy. Missouri needs 18 points in their last 10 games to eclipse the record of 116 points. The Mavericks are 5-3-1-1 in their last ten games.
- Allen is now 2-4 in shootouts this season after going 3-4 last season. The good news is there are no shootouts in the playoffs. The Americans were able to get two goals in the shootout last night (Arseneau & Steffes) but that was not enough. In their six shootouts this season Allen is 7-32 for a 21.9% success rate. That ranks them #25 in the league.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Have had today's question several times recently so thanks to all that have asked this question in various forms.
Q: I get so frustrated with the ECHL officials. Do any of them make it to the AHL or NHL?
A: Thanks to Joe Ernst, ECHL Vice President of Hockey Operations, for tracking down the answer. "We have 27 former ECHL officials currently on the NHL staff. This year we also have 11 referees that split the year between the ECHL and AHL along with probably 25 linesmen who are both part time and full time."
DID YOU KNOW: Allen and Tulsa have played 14 times this season and the home team has won 10 of the 14 games. The home team has won the last seven times these teams have played each other. Hope it is number eight this afternoon.
- Steve Martinson's post game comments were primarily related to the officiating so won't post them here. The most aggravating of the calls was the ruling of no goal on the shot taken by Vincent Arseneau. On that goal Martinson could see the net move from the bench.
ALLEN VS TULSA GAME PREVIEW
- There will be some roster changes for the game this afternoon. Eric Roy did not make the trip to Tulsa after sustaining an upper body injury on Friday and is not expected to play today. Jamie Murray is headed back to school after playing great in his first four professional games. His results will show just one victory and two shootout losses but his GAA is 1.44 to go along with a .963 save percentage.
- Joel Rumpel was assigned to Allen yesterday by San Jose and will be in Allen for the game this afternoon. Joel played in two games during his first AHL call up. He had a win and an overtime loss. Look for Rumpel to get the start in goal this afternoon.
- According to coach Martinson you can expect to see his newly signed forward, Kyle Nueber, at the AEC this afternoon as he is flying in this morning. A final decision will be made once he arrives at the rink if he will be in the lineup, but Coach Martinson expects he will play. Neuber, who is 6' 3' and weighs 250 pounds, just finished his collegiate career at the University of Guelph which is in Ontario.
- You can look at yesterday's blog post to get all of the statistical comparisons between Tulsa and Allen but wanted to point out the importance of special teams in the game today. If you look at the ECHL stats, Allen has a big advantage with a much better overall power play percentage than Tulsa (21.2% to 13.2%). If you look at Allen's home power play percentage (19.2%) versus Tulsa's road power play percentage (7.0%) the advantage is even greater. If you look at the 14 head to head games between these teams Allen is 7-48 (14.6%) on the power play and Tulsa is 7-49 (14.3%). Last night Tulsa won the special teams battle going 2-4 while Allen was 1-4. With the #1 power play in the ECHL and the #2 penalty kill it is imperative the Americans capitalize on this advantage this afternoon.
- Expect Tulsa to be a desperate team this afternoon as they are fighting for a playoff spot. They are currently on the outside looking in. They are ninth in the Western Conference standings but trail eighth place Quad City by just three points with two games in hand.
- Officials scheduled for the game are referee Nic Leduc (#14) and linesmen Mitch Macpherson (#48) and Alex Black (#63). Puddifant was the referee last night in Allen.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Despite losing to Alaska on Friday and Tulsa on Saturday, picking up a point in each game was crucial for Allen in the battle for the fourth seed in the Western Conference. Allen has been able to maintain a six point lead in that race. Here are the current standings with games remaining:
79 points: Allen (8 games remaining)
73 points: Cincinnati (10 games)
73 points: Utah (8 games)
70 points: Colorado (9 games)
68 points: Quad City (10 games)
- Missouri lost to Wichita last night 4-2. It was their second straight regulation loss and the first time that has happened all season. With home ice advantage all but wrapped up throughout the playoffs not sure if the team is having a letdown or resting players or both. The Mavericks quest to set the all time ECHL record for most points in a season which seemed certain just a few games ago is now in jeopardy. Missouri needs 18 points in their last 10 games to eclipse the record of 116 points. The Mavericks are 5-3-1-1 in their last ten games.
- Allen is now 2-4 in shootouts this season after going 3-4 last season. The good news is there are no shootouts in the playoffs. The Americans were able to get two goals in the shootout last night (Arseneau & Steffes) but that was not enough. In their six shootouts this season Allen is 7-32 for a 21.9% success rate. That ranks them #25 in the league.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Have had today's question several times recently so thanks to all that have asked this question in various forms.
Q: I get so frustrated with the ECHL officials. Do any of them make it to the AHL or NHL?
A: Thanks to Joe Ernst, ECHL Vice President of Hockey Operations, for tracking down the answer. "We have 27 former ECHL officials currently on the NHL staff. This year we also have 11 referees that split the year between the ECHL and AHL along with probably 25 linesmen who are both part time and full time."
DID YOU KNOW: Allen and Tulsa have played 14 times this season and the home team has won 10 of the 14 games. The home team has won the last seven times these teams have played each other. Hope it is number eight this afternoon.
Do the refs suffer any consequences for making bad calls? Or is it just a matter that if they call bad games they don't get called up to the next level or will not be accepted for the following season? Pudifant made several bad calls, is only Allen that suffers?
ReplyDeleteThis is the 2nd game in a 24 hour span that Puddifant stole from the Americans by disallowing 4 good goals. Video evidence on ECHL TV clearly shows Makowski's rebound shot clearly made it in the net prior to time expiring. Then he travels to Tulsa and proceeds to disallow 3 more good goals that even the goal official lit the lamp for - again ECHL TV footage confirms he missed the call on all three. With the Americans fighting for 4th seed in the playoffs trying to hold off Cincinnati and Utah those 2 lost points may prove pivotal to the Americans seeding in the playoffs. Puddifant should be sent back to the SPHL or pee wees as he obviously cannot ref at the speed of the ECHL missing 4 goals in 24 hours.
ReplyDeleteMan, other teams are putting up huge shots on goal against us, we have to resolve that!
ReplyDelete