It took a seven game point streak, but the Allen Americans made the Kelly Cup playoffs in style last night, a 6-3 win over Tulsa before a crowd of 5394 at the CUTX Event Center. The Americans earned 13 of 14 points (6-0-1-0) over the last two weeks and not only made the playoffs but vaulted into third place in the Mountain Division.
- It wasn't a good start for Allen as Tulsa scored the first goal of the game and had a lead of 2-1 after the first period. The second period has been trouble for Allen much of the season. The Americans have allowed more second period goals than any ECHL team (105) and Allen's second period goal differential (-23). Prior stats be damned as Allen took control in the second period outscoring Tulsa 3-1 to take a 4-3 lead into the second intermission. It was close to lights out at that point as the Americans are almost unbeatable with a lead after the second period (25-2-1-1).
- Nursing a 4-3 lead, Allen had two breakaway opportunities early in the third period with two of the most dangerous goal scorers on the team, Blake Murray and Hank Crone. When neither scored you had to wonder will this come back to haunt the Americans. No problem as Allen did two things that earned the win. Coach Costello's message to the team was be poised and patient in the defensive zone, take your time and don't just throw the puck out of the zone. With that discipline and Tulsa pushing forward to try and tie the score, Allen will get offensive opportunities. The Americans executed perfectly and added goals by Kameron Kielly and Hank Crone to put the game away and claim third place in the division. Allen's first round opponent will be the Idaho Steelheads.
- Goal scorers for Allen were Kris Myllari (11), Colby McAuley (25), Bennett MacArthur (11), James Hardie (15), Kameron Kielly (11) and Hank Crone (17). Here are the video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/tulsa-oilers-vs-allen-americans-april-13-2024
Here are the game recaps from both teams with more details:
- Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/04/round-1-home-playoff-dates-announced
- Tulsa Oilers: https://tulsaoilers.com/news/2024/04/oilers-need-point-in-season-finale-following-loss
- Some random stats from the game:
- Kameron Kielly had 4 points (3G, 1A) in the two games against Tulsa.
- James Hardie had 4 points (1G, 3A) in the two games against Tulsa.
- Hank Crone had a goal and assist last night and has a nine game point streak. Crone has played 39 games for Allen this season and has point streaks of seven games, 18 games and nine games. His point total of 54 (17G, 37A) equates to points per game average of 1.38. That is the highest in the league for players that have played more than 20 games.
- Kris Myllari scored his 11th goal of the season and his 48th point of the season. He will play in his 216th straight regular season game for Allen today and become an Ironman for the third straight season, an amazing feat. He joins Chad Costello as the only two Allen players to go three seasons without missing a game.
- Allen won the special teams battle last night (1-3 vs 0-2). More importantly, opponents have not had more power play opportunities than the Americans in the last eight games.
TODAY'S PREVIEW
- The game this afternoon (4:05 pm) means nothing to Allen, but everything to Tulsa. The Oilers need to earn one point to advance to the playoffs, otherwise Tulsa is out and Utah is in.
- Colby McAuley and Eric Williams did not make the trip to Tulsa, but Allen will still have a full lineup with all healthy players making the trip. Allen wants to finish the season with a win, but at the same time you can assume playing time will be distributed differently in the game this afternoon.
- Allen's record against Tulsa this season is 9-5-1-0. The Americans enter the game today on a seven game point streak while Tulsa is on a six game losing streak.
OTHER COMMENTS
- A lot of teams qualified for the playoff last night. The Central and South Divisions first round playoffs are set. Three playoffs teams, one in the Mountain and two in the North will be decided today. Here is the ECHL Today with game previews and a detailed playoff update: https://echl.com/news/2024/04/echl-today-april-14
- Kansas City's rookie Max Andreev who leads the Mavericks in assists and was named to the ECHL All-Rookie team this week was just suspended for five games. In a meaningless game in Iowa last night, Andreev was suspended for leaving the player's bench to join an altercation. He will miss the first five games of Kansas City's playoffs.
- I haven't seen the full schedule for the series with Idaho but as I mentioned yesterday there is a gymnastics championship scheduled in Idaho's rink from April 18 - 21. That means the series will not start until April 22. The Americans have already announced their three home games in this 2-3-2 series will be on April 26, 27 and 28 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday). Based on how playoff series are typically scheduled here is the most likely schedule:
- Game 1 - April 22 in Idaho (Monday)
- Game 2 - April 24 in Idaho (Wednesday)
- Game 3 - *April 26 in Allen (Friday)
- Game 4 - April 27 in Allen (Saturday)
- Game 5 if necessary - April 28 in Allen (Sunday)
- Game 6 if necessary - April 30 in Idaho (Tuesday
- Game 7 if necessary - May 1 in Idaho (Wednesday)
*Allen's first home playoff game on the 26th will be a "red out" game so the team is encouraging everyone to wear red that night.
- Allen finished the season with an average attendance of 4349 per game. That is a an increase of 833 per game over the 3516 average last season. The Americans finish #2 in the ECHL in year over year percentage growth and #3 in the league in overall growth. Congrats to Jonny Mydra and the entire Allen sales and marketing staff for a great season.
I was a good game. Allen needs to improve on defense around the crease. It an enjoyable game.
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