I received a message yesterday from a friend and big fan of the Allen Americans that said, "I need to thank you for the ongoing tedium you must force yourself through as the team continues to play so poorly. I do not see a way out of this type of play and as you point out, losing breeds negativity and that leads to a bad clubhouse." After reading this message I decided this morning I would take my own advice to the team from the blog post a couple of days ago. That advice was to re-frame all of the negativity into positive thoughts. So today's game recap will be written with that advice in mind. When I get to the preview for tonight's game all bets are off. Here goes:
- The Allen Americans played much better in a close loss to their sister team, Reading Royals, last night. The game was much closer than the final score of 5-3. Owner Jack Gulati said the first game ever between the two teams he owns would be entertaining and exciting and a crowd of 2259 at Santander Arena got their moneys worth.
- Allen staged a great comeback after allowing the first goal of the game and falling behind 2-0 after the first period. Two power play goals in the first half of the second period allowed the Americans to tie the scored 2-2. Zach Pochiro opened the scoring for Allen with his 12th goal of the season. Spencer Asuchak tied the score 2-2 at the 11:22 mark of the second period with his eighth goal of the season.
- After two Reading goals made the score 4-2 at the second intermission the Americans fought back again in the third period on Zach Pochiro's second power play goal of the game and his 13th goal of the season. Zach is tied for seventh in the ECHL in goals scored. Allen continued to apply pressure on the Royals down the stretch but could not get the equalizer. The outcome wasn't decided until Reading scored an empty net goal late in the game. The Americans out shot the Royals 25-22 over the last two periods of the game.
- The Americans power play was spectacular against Reading as all three Allen goals came with a man advantage. Allen was 3-5 on the power play, the best power play production of the season. Reading also scored three power play goals but it took them 10 opportunities.
- Here is the game recap issued by the Reading Royals: https://royalshockey.com/en/news/2018/9/royals-capitalize-on-americans-penalties-5-3
ALLEN VS READING REMATCH PREVIEW
- Allen and Reading square off again tonight in game two of their three game series. Here are three keys to the game.
1. Get off to a better start. Allen is 4-3-0-1 when they score first. However, in 20 of their 28 games this season Allen has allowed the first goal to their opponent. Their record when they don't score first is 2-17-0-1. Allen was trailing after the first period last night 2-0. The Americans record on the road when leading after the first period is 3-0-0-0. When trailing after the first period on the road Allen's record is 0-6-0-1. Pretty easy formula for success, get off to a good start.
2. Stay out of the penalty box. The Americans gave up three power play goals last night on a season high 10 power play opportunities. The ECHL average (per team) for minor penalties is 122. Allen leads the league with 170. With the exception of Rapid City, who has 160 minor penalties, no other team in the league has more than 149. Reading is at the other end of the spectrum with only 98 minor penalties. The power play opportunities last night were 10-5 in favor of the Royals. Allen will not win if they don't do a better job of staying out of the penalty box.
3. Play better defense - One of Allen's problems is they haven't had enough offensive firepower to overcome their league worst goals allowed average of 3.96. The Americans scored three goals last night but none of them came even strength. During their current five game losing streak Allen has allowed 24 goals (4.8 per game). Even though the fifth goal last night was an empty net goal if Allen expects to win tonight they need to tighten up defensively.
- Here is a great game preview that was issued by the Reading Royals. In addition to stats about both teams you can get the details on the game promotions tonight which include the annual Teddy Bear toss, food drive, Salvation Army fundraiser, Holiday ornament giveaway and the Ugly Christmas Sweater jerseys the Royals will be wearing. There is also information about Jack Gulati's career and his purchasing of two hockey franchises. It is a good read: https://royalshockey.com/en/news/2018/9/game-25-preview-allen-at-reading
OTHER COMMENTS
- The Allen Americans made a trade yesterday acquiring forward Riley Bourbonnais from the Maine Mariners in exchange for forward Greg Chase. Coach Martinson said this about the trade, "We were looking for a top six forward that can score and kill penalties. Riley has that reputation."
Riley is a second year pro who played his college hockey at RPI. The 5'11" 195 pound left shot forward was RPI's captain and leading scorer as a senior in 2016-17. He led his team in goals (17), points (31, power play goals (10) and was second in assists (14).
Bourbonnais played in Wheeling last season and had 42 points (23G, 19A) in 67 games. This season Riley followed his Wheeling coach to Maine. He had eight points (4G, 4A) in 14 games for the Mariners.
Riley was just as successful in the classroom as he was on the hockey rink at RPI. He had a dual major in Industrial and Management Engineering as well as Business and Management. He was on the Dean's List and was a member of the RPI's Student-Athlete Honor Society. Riley's dad played college hockey for RIT and won the 1985 Division III NCAA championship.
Here is a video interview with Riley from a couple of years ago when he was a senior at RPI. You can get to know him in his own words: https://cbs6albany.com/sports/beyond-the-games/beyond-the-games-riley-bourbonnais
- Bourbonnais has not yet reported to the Americans so I would not expect him to be in the lineup tonight against Reading.
- Just when you think the Mountain Division standings couldn't get any tighter it does. After last night's action there are only two points separating first place Utah with 32 points and fifth place Kansas City with 30 points.
- If you want some offensive inspiration here is 28 minutes of magic of the top goals in the NHL last season. I never get tired of watching the talent of the best hockey players in the world. If you are a defenseman it may be best you skip this video.
DID YOU KNOW: You know the season is not going well for the Allen Americans when you start getting asked questions about the worst seasons in ECHL history and whether the Americans are threatening any of those records. After several of you asked about this I decided to look up the records. While I am confident things will improve, if Allen maintains their current losing pace they will make the all-time record book for poor seasons. Allen's winning percentage is currently at .250 which would rank them fifth on the all-time lowest winning percentage list. The record is held by the Roanoke Valley Rampage at .227 which was set in 1992-93. Fifth place on the list was more recent as the Evansville IceMen finished with a winning percentage of .271 in 2014-15.
Fewest wins in a season is 14 and fewest home wins is five. At their current pace Allen would finish with 15 wins overall and seven wins at home. If Allen finishes with 15 wins it would place them tied for fourth place on the fewest wins list. Seven home wins would be the second fewest all-time.
I not big on predictions but I will say with some confidence Allen will not be on any worst lists when the season comes to a close.
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