Allen vs Tulsa Game Preview, Mountain Division Standings Changes, Best of Stats and More

It's game day as the Americans start one of those lovely three games in 48 hours with over 700 miles of bus time thrown in for good measure. It starts tonight against Tulsa. After the game the team will jump on the bus and head to Wichita to take on the Thunder tomorrow (Friday). Then back on the bus to Allen where they play Wichita again Saturday.


-  Allen has played Tulsa four times this season, all in Tulsa and came away with three wins. Including the game tonight Allen will play eight of their remaining 26 games (31%) against the Oilers. While Tulsa has a winning percentage of .489 and is on the outside looking in at the playoffs the Oilers have started playing better hockey recently. Tulsa has the ECHL's longest current streak of seven games with a point on a record of 5-0-2-0.


- Allen has also been playing well recently as they have points in five straight games (4-0-0-1). The Americans have the second best record in the league over the last 10 games (7-1-1-1).


- A key to the game tonight is shots on goal. Despite their record Tulsa leads the ECHL at generating shots averaging 35.87 per game. Allen is ranked #23 in allowing shots on goal at 35.09. In the four previous games Tulsa has out shot Allen 145-129. With Tulsa playing better recently the Americans cannot afford to give Tulsa a 10-15 shot advantage.


- Another key to the game tonight will be special teams and when you look at recent games the stats are striking. Tulsa has just one power play goal in their last seven games going 1-20 (5.0%) while Allen is 12-29 (41.4%). While Tulsa has struggled on the power play their penalty kill has been outstanding at 2-22 (90.9%) over their last seven games. Allen's penalty kill has held their opponents without a power play goal in five of their last seven games while scoring three shorthanded goals. You have to give the special teams advantage to Allen and if they can win that battle they should be in good shape.


- While special teams will be a key to the game these teams typically don't take a lot of penalties when playing head to head. In the four games they have played this season there have been no fights and the average penalty minutes per game is eight for Allen and 10.5 for Tulsa.


- Allen has one of the better records in the league when scoring first (20-3-1-1) while Tulsa has one of the worst (14-6-1-1) but it is clear scoring first is critical. If either team has a lead after the first period the odds of winning the game go way up. Allen is 17-2-2-0 when leading after the first period, Tulsa is 10-2-1-0.


- Undoubtedly the Americans strength this season has been their depth with three players already with 20+ goals and eight players with 10+ goals. If you are looking for players to watch tonight that don't have 10+ goals keep an eye on Corey Durocher and Josh Brittain. Both have played two games against Tulsa this season. Corey has four points (2G, 2A) and Josh has three points (2G, 1A).


- For the first time in a long time coach Martinson has a healthy roster and will have to sit out a couple of players tonight. Spencer Asuchak will return to the lineup for the first time since January 4th. Jake Paterson should get the start in goal as it is his turn to start based on Martinson's rotational policy.


- The referee scheduled tonight is Cameron Fleming (#27) and the linesmen will be Michael Miggins (#47) and Trent Williams (#48). Fleming was the referee the last time Allen played Tulsa and called 14 minor penalties with most being stick penalties (holding hooking slashing, tripping). The players need to adapt as this will probably not be one of those "let them play" type of games.


OTHER COMMENTS

- The Mountain Division has seen some changes since Thanksgiving but the only change in the teams in a playoff spot is Wichita out and Utah in. Here are the standings by winning percentage at Thanksgiving and today with the change in parenthesis. Notice Utah, Tulsa and Kansas City are the only teams that have improved their winning percentage since Thanksgiving. 

Thanksgiving
.778 - Allen
.650 - Rapid City
.650 - Idaho
.579 - Wichita
.500 - Utah
.429 - Tulsa
.412 - Kansas City

Today
.739 - Allen   (-.039)
.633 - Utah    (+.133)
.598 - Idaho   (-.052)
.580 - Rapid City  (-.070)
.489 - Wichita   (-.090)
.489 - Tulsa   (+.060)
.453 - Kansas City (+.041) 


- With two games remaining in the month of January the Americans need to win both to match the December win total of nine. Here is Allen's record by month:

4-2-0-0   October
10-1-2-0  November
9-2-3-1    December
7-3-1-1    January


DID YOU KNOW:  Here are some ECHL team stats that standout this season;

19-2-0-0 - Newfoundland's home record
0-5 - Adirondack's shootout record
8136 - Fort Wayne's average attendance
7-0 - Newfoundland's overtime record
19-1-3-0 - Reading's record when scoring first
94.3% - South Carolina's home penalty kill percentage
19-0-1-0 - Brampton's record with a lead after the first period
16 - Newfoundland's home winning streak