The Americans played better Friday night but the result was the same with another loss. Allen lost to Kansas City 4-2 before a crowd of 3525 at the Allen Event Center (AEC). The loss was the second in a row against the Mavericks, third straight home loss and the fifth loss in the last six games.
- Once again Allen gave up the first goal of the game and could not dig out of that hole. The Americans tied the score but never had a lead in the game. In the two losses to Kansas City, Allen never had a lead.
- Allen was 1-6 on the power play scoring on a 5-on-3 opportunity. The post Tyler Sheehy power play has struggled. In the eight games before Sheehy was recalled by Iowa the Allen power play was 9-35 for a 25% success rate. Of the nine power play goals Tyler had a goal (2) or assist (5) on seven of the nine goals. In the three games since Tyler went to Iowa the power play is 1-11 (9.0%) The lone goal was the 5-on-3 goal last night.
- On a positive note Allen put 48 shots on goal including three breakaways in the first five minutes of the game. They out shot the Mavericks 48-33. Kansas City goalie, Tyler Parsons, was outstanding with a .958 save percentage which included many grade A saves.
- Goal scorers for Allen were Alex Guptill (14) and Jared VanWormer (16). VanWormer's 16 goals ties him for the team lead with Gabe Gagne.
- Here is the game recap issued by Kansas City: https://www.kcmavericks.com/en/news/mavs-complete-two-game-sweep-of-first-place-allen-with-4-2-win
- Video highlights:
STEVE MARTINSON'S POST GAME COMMENTS
"We played a lot better game tonight even though we didn't get the outcome we were looking for."
"It seemed like every time we made mistakes they capitalized. All of our bad mistakes ended up in our net."
"To get that many shots and have that much puck possession with a team that is tired like we are now is a positive. We have had a lot of games and a lot of travel and tomorrow is going to be a tough one since Wichita hasn't played since NYE.
"Their goalie was really good, it reminded me of some games when Sawchenko saved all of our mistakes."
"We need a veteran to step up and grab a game so Paterson will be in goal tomorrow."
ALLEN VS WICHITA PREVIEW
- Allen's record against Wichita this season is 3-0-2-0. Since joining the ECHL the Americans have dominated the Thunder at the AEC with a record 22-6-1-0.
- Allen has the advantage over Wichita when you compare stats from winning percentage (.722 vs .500) to average goals scored (3.78 vs 2.86) to average goals allowed (3.14 vs 3.61). However, what balances the stat differential is the fact the Americans are playing their third game in three days and fourth game in five days while the Thunder have been resting since NYE. This game will be more about will than skill for Allen.
- Wichita has the worst road power play in the league at 6.6% (4-61). Allen's power play has struggled the last three home games (1-11). If either team can capitalize on the power play it will go a long way to winning the game.
- Jake Paterson will get the start in goal and will have to be on the top of his game given the Americans have given up 15 goals over the last three games. Jake's save percentage in his last two starts was .864 and .950.
- Allen hasn't scored first during this three game home losing streak. They have a great record when they do score first (15-2-1-0) so a good start tonight will be key.
OTHER COMMENTS
- AHL player update: Tyler Sheehy, Brett Pollock and Jake Doty played last night. Matt Register and Turner Ottenbreit were healthy scratches.
- The ECHL will announce all of the participants in the upcoming All-Star game next week starting on Monday with a press release on the players selected. Each day thereafter will be a press release announcing the coaches, trainers, equipment managers and broadcasters. We already know Steve Martinson will be named coach of the Western Conference All-Stars as that automatically goes to the coach with the best record. There shouldn't be any suspense on Allen's player selection to the team since it is a showcase for young talent and rookie Tyler Sheehy leads the ECHL in scoring. Will have to wait and see if Allen has any other participants. The All-Star game will be broadcast live on the NHL Network on January 22 at 7:00 pm CST.
- Thanks for all the messages and words of encouragement after I fractured my collarbone and rib this past week. It means a lot to hear from you and will help me get through the three month healing process. Thanks again!
DID YOU KNOW: I posted this on my ECHL Stats & Information pages on Twitter (@ECHLStats) and Facebook but wanted to post it here because it is so impressive what South Carolina is accomplishing. They lost just their third regulation game of the season last night but only gave up one goal. Florida beat the Stingrays 1-0.
At their current pace the South Carolina Stingrays would finish the season allowing 151 goals, beating the all time ECHL record of 153 they set in 2017-18. Here are the teams with the fewest goals allowed this season:
63 - South Carolina Stingrays
80 - Florida Everblades
85 - Orlando Solar Bears
86 - Utah Grizzlies
87 - Cincinnati Cyclones
94 - Toledo Walleye
FYI, Allen is ranked #17 having allowed 113 goals so far this season.
Turnovers are costing us right now. If we could quit making bad passes and not turn over the puck in the neutral zone I think we would have a better outcome. In the two games so far this weekend, a lot of our mistakes and turnovers turned into excellent scoring opportunities for Missouri. We can’t win games when we keep giving them the puck and they score.
ReplyDeleteFriday's game just looked like they were tired plus out of position.
ReplyDeleteNeed someone in front of the net to block the goalie's site and on our end to get a rebound. Seemed like we never had a guy in front of the net. We also seemed to have too many guys in the corner going for the puck and leaving the slot and weak side unguarded.
Just wondering. When did the group of fans who played the drums and got the crowd going stop attending? I did not attend manybgames last year and was surprised they were not there.
Also, is that 3500 attending actual in seats or ticket sales? 3500 seem a lot higher that what seemed to actaully be there.
ReplyDeleteKevin, the official attendance that is reported is the total number of tickets issued for the game and not butts in the seats. Your observation is correct.
DeleteThe drum section abandoned us sometime last season and haven't been back. Biscuit now has a drum which gets the rows going but having that whole section was a great addition to the games.
ReplyDeleteThanks
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