The Allen Americans lost to the Tulsa Oilers 4-3 last night in front of a crowd of 6482 at the BOK Center. It was the Americans first regulation loss since January 4 and ended a streak of seven games where Allen earned at least one point.
- It was apparent early last night the Americans had gotten away from what have made them successful recently. Allen surrendered the first goal just 32 seconds into the game. That was bad news since Tulsa hasn't lost a game in regulation all season when scoring first (16-0-3-1). Tulsa took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission which also predicted trouble ahead for the Americans since the Oilers haven't lost a game in regulation at home all season with a first period lead (6-0-1-2).
- The game was decided in the second period which was dominated by Tulsa. The Oilers out shot Allen 17-4 and out scored them 3-1. Tulsa went into the locker room after the second period with a 4-1 lead. That was even worse news for Allen fans since Tulsa's record this season with a second period lead is 17-0-2-1.
- To their credit the Americans came back in the third period scoring two goals to close the gap to 4-3 with nine minutes remaining in the game but could not get the equalizer. The bottom line is after that first goal by Tulsa, on the first shift of the game, the Americans not only couldn't take the lead but they couldn't tie the score. Coming from behind on the road has not been a strong suit for Allen this season. When trailing after the first period their record is 1-8-0-1 and when trailing after the second period the record is 1-14-1-1.
- To recap what went wrong for Allen last night:
Allen allowed the first goal
Allen totaled only 20 shots on goal (second fewest all season)
Allen was out shot 17-4 in second period
Allen was out shot 31-20 for the game
Allen 0-7 on the power play
Allen had too many turnovers and odd man rushes that led to goals
- It wasn't all bad as there were some positives:
Allen out shot Tulsa 7-6 in the third period
Allen outscored Tulsa 2-0 in the third period
Allen was perfect on the penalty kill (0-6)
Here is the game recap from the Tulsa Oilers: https://tulsaoilers.com/big-second-period-leads-oilers-past-americans/
Goal scorers for Allen were Alex Ranger (3), Braylon Shmyr (12) and Zach Pochiro (24). Here are the video highlights with all of the goals:
ALLEN VS TULSA RUBBER MATCH PREVIEW
- The rubber match of the three games in three days takes place this afternoon (4:05 pm CST) and it is a critical game for both teams. It is a misnomer to call this three games in three days because in reality it is three games in 48 hours. The puck dropped on Friday night at 7:05 and today the game should be over by 7:30 pm.
- Allen won 5-0 on Friday night and Tulsa won 4-3 last night. The game today will be as much about will as skill. Which team wants these two points more?
- For Tulsa a win today could move them into first place in the Mountain Division. Allen is hanging on by a thread in their hopes to make the playoffs and last night they lost ground to all three teams they have to pass. Rapid City, Wichita and Kansas City all won while Allen was losing. The Americans cannot afford another defeat today.
- To win this afternoon the Americans need a better start than last night and they have to generate more shots. You are not going to win with 20 shots on goal like the Americans had last night. As a reminder of how important it is for the Americans to get off to a good start, when they don't score first Allen's record this season is 5-24-0-1.
- The power play has struggled after being on a hot streak. With Pochiro back in the lineup last night after a two game suspension the power play went 0-7. In the last four games the power play is 1-17 (5.9%). The power play needs to get on the scoreboard this afternoon.
- You can't say enough about the Allen penalty killers who were outstanding again last night. They have given up one power play goal in the last eight games and during that time are 1-34. That is a penalty kill percentage of 97.1%. I know one of Casey Pierro-Zabotel's roles is to work with the penalty kill unit so whatever he is doing the guys are delivering. "Atta boys" all around!
- Turnovers and gambling cost the Americans some of the goals last night. Coach Martinson emphasizes not to try to make a plays that aren't there. Jumping into the play is an important part of Allen's offense but knowing when to jump in is key.
- The referee scheduled for today's game is Stan Szczurek (#15) and the linesmen will be Chuck Schamel (#97) and Micheal Miggans (#47).
OTHER COMMENTS
- Zach Pochiro scored his 24th goal of the season last night and leads the ECHL in goals. He has seven goals in his last six games. Zach is having a breakout season averaging .62 goals per game and is on pace for a 40 goal season which is all the more impressive when you consider he has already missed seven games this season. You have to think the AHL will come calling soon to take a look at Pochiro.
- Flying under the radar is Dante Salituro's assist streak. His assist last night extended his streak to six games with at least one assist. That is the second longest assist streak in the ECHL right now.
- The Mountain Division winners last night were Rapid City, Kansas City, Wichita and Tulsa. The losers were Idaho, Utah and Allen. The games today are Allen at Tulsa, Idaho at Wichita and Rapid City at Toledo. Utah and Kansas City are idle.
- If you look at points, Allen is 12 points out of fourth place, 11 points out of fifth place and eight points out of sixth place in the division. What this doesn't speak to is the Americans will be playing their 47th game of the season today which is the most games played in the ECHL. Here are games played for all 27 ECHL teams as of last night.
46 games - Allen
45 games - Rapid City
44 games - two teams including Tulsa
43 games - five teams including Wichita
42 games - four teams including Idaho
41 games - 11 teams including Utah
40 games - two teams including Kansas City
39 games - Atlanta
The hole Allen has to dig out of is much deeper than looking at points because every team in the league has games in hand over the Americans. The best example is Kansas City in fifth place in the division in points. Allen is 11 points behind the Mavericks but Kansas City has played six fewer games than the Americans.
- After the game today Allen will have 25 games remaining with 20 of them being at home. The Americans only road games in February are a trip to Wichita (February 5) and Kansas City (February 8). In March Allen has 11 home home games and one road game to Tulsa (March 2). Allen finishes the season with two games in Wichita (April 5 & 6 ).
- The schedule could not be more friendly for making up ground in the standings. When you have 20 of 25 games at home and 22 of the final 25 games are against division opponents there is a lot of opportunity. However just to give everyone a realty check, based on historical information for the number of points it typically takes to make the playoffs here are the facts. Despite the Americans improved play recently their record over the last 26 games will have to be around 22-3-1-0 to make the playoffs.
- The countdown to 1000 wins for Steve Martinson is now at eight games. The odds are now huge this will happen at home.
DID YOU KNOW: I often write about the different styles of play in the different ECHL divisions. I noticed this stat this morning that speaks to that difference. There are only three teams in the ECHL that have more than 743 penalty minutes and they are all in the Mountain Divsion:
976 - Allen
955 - Rapid City
910 - Idaho
There are only four teams in the ECHL that have fewer that 499 penalty minutes and they all come from the North Division:
396 - Manchester
412 - Reading
439 - Newfoundland
467 - Maine
What is interesting is they are the top five and bottom five teams in both the high PIMs group and low PIMS group. It is worthy of note that the last four Kelly Cups have been won by high PIMS teams.
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