Allen Wins & Ends January Undefeated at Home, Game Recap, Martinson's Comments, Sporfie Highlights, Allen's Monthly Record Shows Magnitude of Turnaround & More

The Allen Americans beat the Idaho Steelheads 4-2 last night before a crowd of 3904 at the Allen Event Center (AEC). It didn't look good for the Americans when the Steelheads scored on their first shot just 45 seconds into the game. However, Allen also scored on their first shot of the game (Adam Miller) though it took almost six minutes for the Americans to get that first shot. The first period ended with a score of 1-1.


- Alex Ranger scored the only goal of the second period at the 1:24 mark and Allen took a 2-1 lead into the third period. When Spencer Asuchak gave the Americans a 3-1 lead at the 13:02 mark of the third period the possibility of an undefeated home record for the month of January became a reality.


- Idaho scored to cut the lead to 3-2 before Asuchak scored an empty neat goal to assure the victory and yes, Allen's home record for January finished at 3-0-0-0.


 - Here is the game recap issued by the Idaho Steelheads: https://www.idahosteelheads.com/en/articles/steelheads-comeback-falls-short-drop-4-2-to-americans


- Goal scorers for Allen were Adam Miller (13), Alex Ranger (4) and Spencer Asuchak (14 & 15). Here are the Sporfie highlights:

Adam Miller - Watch the play of Mitch Maloney on this goal. He screens the goalie, knocks down the shot from the point and makes a subtle touch pass of less than a foot to Miller who buries the puck past the goalie who is out of position.




Alex Ranger - On this goal Riley Bourbonnais does all of the hard work behind the net and makes a perfect pass to Ranger in the slot. Alex makes a great shot to give Allen a 2-1 lead.






Spencer Asuchak - This is a great three way power play goal from the top line. Watch as Adam Miller makes the cross ice pass to Zach Pochiro. You can see the goalie thinks the leading goal scorer in the ECHL is going to shoot but after drawing the goalie to his side of the net Pochiro passes the puck to Asuchak who is where he always is, at the goal mouth, for a tap in. A great play by all three forwards on this goal which turned out to be the game winner.




Spencer Asuchak - Here are two views of this empty net goal. The first is Spencer putting the puck in the net. The second is from behind the play and there are two things to watch for from this angle. Chase Lang loses the draw after Asuchak gets kicked out of the faceoff circle but follows the puck to the point and dives to knock it loose and spring Spencer. Also, look for the very subtle celebration by C.J. Motte with a tiny movement of his left arm before he grabs for the water bottle.

 








STEVE MARTINSON'S POST GAME COMMENTS

"There were some nice plays tonight and a good penalty kill until Idaho had that pass in the seam and scored."

"We still turned the puck over six or seven times when we needed to get the puck in deep so it is a work in progress."

"I think Boutet helps our defense a lot and was solid tonight."

"It was nice to get that empty net goal at the end."

"Lang isn't scoring a lot but he can play a lot. On our team he can go out every other shift on the penalty kill. Even though he doesn't have a lot of points he has been an important player for us the last 10 games."

"Idaho is one of the better teams in the league and they don't allow you to skate up and down the ice, so sometimes it is hard to enter our offensive zone with speed."

"With Curt Gogol and Emerson Clark back in the lineup on Friday I will have some decisions to make. I might play Gogol at defense, put Clark at left wing with Asuchak and Pochiro and move Miller to center."

"Dalton Thrower will be out of the lineup two to four weeks. Garrett Clarke has been cleared to play but he has only practiced a couple of days."


OTHER COMMENTS

- The countdown to 1000 wins for Steve Martinson is now at six. 


- Allen has now played four games against Idaho with two more this weekend. Allen's record against the Steelheads is 2-0-2-0. Not bad when you consider Idaho is the first place team in the Mountain Division.


- The Americans have lost just once in regulation in the last 10 games and have earned 15 points in those 10 games. Allen has the best record (6-1-3-0) over the last 10 games of  any team in the Mountain Division.


- It is a very small step but it is nice to see the Americans no longer have the worst winning percentage in the ECHL. With their win last night and a Greenville loss, Allen's winning percentage is now at .365 compared to the Swamp Rabbits at .359. Allen has been in last place since early in the season. Next up for the Americans to pass is Rapid City who is at .436.


- Dante Salituro had an assist last night to run his assist streak to eight games. In those eight games Dante has 12 points (3G, 9A). His eight game assist streak is the longest current streak in the league and the second longest all season.


- Adam Miller had a goal and an assist last night and is now the second leading scorer on the team. In 38 games Miller has 34 points (13G, 21A).


- The Americans will practice today as they get ready for games against Idaho on Friday and Saturday. 



DID YOU KNOW: It is hard to overstate how much of a turnaround the Americans have made in the month of January. In October, November and December the Americans had a total of eight wins. In January, Allen had seven wins. The January record was even more impressive when you consider the Americans spent most of the month on the road. They had only three home games and were a perfect 3-0 at home. Here is Allen's month by month record.

3-4-0-1    October
2-10-0-1  November
3-12 0-0  December
7-2-3-0   January