Allen Earns First Home Win, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Costello Comments, Shot Differential by Period and More

 

I am off to North Dakota today for a week of pheasant hunting in the cold, snowy and windy flatland. You have to be a hunter from the north to appreciate a late season pheasant hunt in such weather. I will have access to social media so will be posting on Facebook and X, but no blog for the next week. 

 

- It took a 49 save efforts from goalie Leevi Meriläinen to propel the Allen Americans to a 3-2 win over the Utah Grizzlies last night. Allen's point streak is now four games (3-0-1-0). A lot went well for the Americans in the game:

• Allen scored the first goal of the game just 2:53 after opening puck drop on Matt Marcinew's team leading eighth goal of the season.
• Allen took a 2-0 lead at the 15:56 mark of the first period on William Provost's first goal since joining the Americans.
• Allen took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission which was a good sign. Allen's record with a first period lead is now 4-0-1-0. Utah's record when trailing after the first period is 0-5-0-0.
• Allen scored the only goal of the second period. It was a power play goal by Hank Crone, his third goal and 11th point since rejoining the Americans seven games ago. Crone has a point in every game thus far. It is the third longest point streak in the ECHL currently.
• Utah cut the lead to 3-2 midway through the third period but could not get the equalizer despite out shooting Allen 23-3 in the period. Utah's 23 shots is the most in the third period in the ECHL this season. Meriläinen's 22 third period saves is the most in any period in the ECHL this season. 
• Shots on goal after the second period were 28-27.
• Allen stayed out of the penalty box and won the special teams battle. The Americans were 1-3 on the power play, Utah was 0-2.

 

- Here are the game recaps from both teams:

• Allen Americans - https://allenamericans.com/news/2023/12/merilainen-shines-in-3-2-win-over-utah
• Utah Grizzlies - https://utahgrizzlies.com/news/2023/12/americans-defeat-grizzlies-3-2-on-friday-night

-Here are the video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/utah-grizzlies-vs-allen-americans-dec-1-2023

 

- Coach Costello, captain Kris Myllari and Hank Crone talked to the season ticket holders after the game. Here is some of what they had to say:

"I like the way we competed tonight, we are still giving up too many shots. The more shots the opponent throws at the net the more chance they have to get lucky. We need to fix that.We have talked about reducing the shots on goal a lot so we are working on it.".....Costello

"It was a big win for us. We have a good thing rolling right now with points in four straight games and winning three of the last four. Obviously the injury bug is still with us. It was a good effort tonight and we are improving every day.".....Costello

"It was great to get our first home game win and I like the way we are trending. We are not where we want to be yet, but were are trending in the right direction.".....Costello

"Colton Hargrove is out for the long term. I asked him what he wanted to do with his "C" and it was his decision to give it to Myllari which is the exact decision I would have made. Myllari made the decision to give his "A" to Colby McAuley. I will keep them on the right path but it needs be  their team and their room.".....Costello

"First off we got fantastic goaltending. We have a lot of guys on IR and we are finding ways to get some wins right now and that is all that matters. I think we are playing better hockey each and every day. If we keep building off of that, come playoff time we will be ready to roll. It is not about how hot you are now, it is how you are playing at playoff time. I think we are going to keep playing a better brand of hockey, we are going to get healthier and healthier and we will be in a great spot if we keep building every day.".....Myllari    

"We went through this last year with a slow start. I think the core guys know what we have to do to get out of the slow start. The guys realize with all of the injuries when we get healthier we will be dangerous.".....Crone

- Tonight's game against Wichita is key given after tonight Allen hits the road for six games, three in Utah and three in Kansas City. Allen needs a win against the Thunder to keep the momentum going as they hit the road. It is also important because there will be a huge crowd in attendance tonight for Star Wars Night. 

 

- Allen and Wichita are evenly matched teams statistically who have started playing better hockey recently. Both have identical records over the last 10 games (3-6-1-0). Wichita is 2-0-1-0 in the last three games. Allen is 3-0-1-0 in the last four games.   

 

- Allen can't give up 50+ shots and expect to win. In Allen's only game against Wichita this season, a 5-3 win, the Americans allowed the Thunder just 34 shots. They will need another effort like that tonight. Wichita just got three players assigned from San Jose (a goalie and two defensemen) so have strengthened its lineup.

 

- The referee tonight will be the same as last night. He let the guys play for the most part last night calling just five penalties in the game. All bets are off when Allen plays Wichita, but this referee isn't going to call a lot of soft penalties. 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

-  There have been five games in the ECHL this season with 48+ saves and three belong to the Allen Americans. Allen won two of the three games.

• Mark Sinclair made 52 saves in a 6-2 loss in Idaho (11/15)
• Mark Sinclair made 49 saves in a 4-3 win in Kansas City (11/7)
• Leevi Merilainen made 49 saves in Allen's 3-2 win last night. 

- Leevi Merilainen has played two games for Allen and won them both. He has faced a staggering 96 shots and given up four goals for a .958 save percentage.

 

- Allen's shots allowed by period has created huge negative shots differentials:

• 1st period
• 157 shots for
• 266 shots against
• -109 shot differential

• 2nd period
• 173 shots for
• 262 shots against
• -89 shot differential

• 3rd period
• 153 shots for
• 239 shots against
• -86 shot differential

• Totals (includes OT & SO)
  
• 489 shots for
• 769 shots against
• -280 shots differential

-  If Allen wins tonight it will crack the .400 points percentage mark (.417) for the first time since the beginning of the season. If Allen beats Wichita tonight and Tulsa beats Utah the Americans will be in a playoff position (4th place) by points percentage.

 

- There are 13 games on the ECHL schedule tonight. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2023/12/echl-today-dec-2  

 

DID YOU KNOW: Some ECHL “wow” stats from the daily report:

- Greenville (15-2-0-0) and Idaho (15-2-0-1) stand far above the rest.

 

- Greenville is the only team with a perfect record when scoring 1st, 9-0-0-0.

 

- Idaho has scored 43 second period goals and allowed 19 for a +24 goal differential. The next closest team has 28 second period goals.

 

- Jacksonville hasn’t lost with a lead after 1st or 2nd period and hasn’t won trailing after the 1st or 2nd period.

 

- Greenville has been outshot in 11 of its 17 games, but has a record of 10-1 when being outshot.