It is the last weekend of the ECHL regular season and every team in the Mountain Division except Rapid City can still make the playoffs. Kansas City and Idaho are already locked in while Tulsa (67 points), Allen (66 points, Utah (66 points) and Wichita (63 points) will be vying for the final two playoff spots.
- Here is the weekend schedule:
- 67 points: Tulsa - Allen (A) Friday, Allen (A) Saturday, Allen (H) Sunday
- 66 points: Utah - Idaho (A) Friday, Idaho (A) Saturday
- 66 points: Allen - Tulsa (H) Friday, Tulsa (H) Saturday, Tulsa (A) Sunday
- 63 points: Wichita - Rapid City (A) Friday, Rapid City (A) Saturday
Wichita: The Thunder lost in Rapid City 6-2 last night and made Wichita's path to the playoffs both challenging and straight forward. The only way the Thunder make the playoffs is to win in Rapid City tonight and tomorrow while both Allen and Idaho get swept this weekend. Possible but highly unlikely.
Utah: How the Grizzlies fare in their final two games in Idaho will be key. If Utah wins both games it will make the playoffs. If the Grizzlies lose both games, Tulsa is in even if they get swept and Allen would need to earn just one point from the three games against Tulsa. The easiest way to explain this is Allen needs to earn one more point than Utah this weekend to make the playoffs and Tulsa needs to earn the same points as Utah this weekend to make the playoffs. Since Allen and Tulsa play three games and Utah just two (in Idaho) the Grizzlies have the toughest road to the playoffs.
- The best way for Allen to approach the weekend is look at each game as a must win. The game tonight is critical and a regulation win will move Allen past Tulsa in the standings. Here is how the teams compare in the 13 head to head games they have played this season:
- Allen's record against Tulsa is 7-5-1-0.
- Allen's home record is 4-4-0-0.
- Allen's record in Tulsa is 3-1-1-0.
- Four of 13 games have gone extra time.
- Allen has scored first in six of the 13 games with record of 5-0-1-0.
- Allen's record in the seven games they have allowed the first goal is 2-5-0-0.
- Allen has been outscored 42-50.
- Allen has been outshot 544-421.
- In the last five games Allen has played against Tulsa (since February 10) the Americans scored a total of seven goals (1.4 per game). Allen won twice (1-0, 4-2) and lost three times (6-1, 3-1, 6-0). Allen enters the series against Tulsa with a five game points streak (4-0-1-0) with all five games going extra time. In its last five games Allen scored just 13 goals but allowed only 11.
- Tulsa arrives in Allen on a five game losing streak and a record over its last 10 games of 2-5-3-0. Tulsa's last five games were all against Wichita.
- Special teams will play a big role in this series and if you look at overall season stats, Allen has the better power play 20.2% vs 18.5% and the better penalty kill 78.3% vs 76.6%. Coach Costello has emphasized staying out of the penalty box and the recent results indicate that has been working. Allen is #2 in the ECHL in penalty minutes (1174), Tulsa is #22 in penalty minutes (771). Over the last six Allen games the Americans have had a total of 19 power play opportunities compared to just 15 for its opponents.
- If you look at the 13 head to head games against Tulsa the power play advantage goes to the Oilers. Allen is 8-40 (20.0%) on the power play and hasn't scored a power play goal in the last five games. Tulsa is 13-45 (28.9%) on the power play. The Tulsa percentage is skewed by one game (February 10) when the Oilers had 10 power play opportunities and scored four goals.
- It is the time of the season where all players are dealing with bumps, bruises or more. I would expect every player not on injured reserve will be available tonight. Coach Costello has rotated guys into the lineup to make sure everyone gets some playing time and there are some fresh legs in each game. I assume he will continue that practice in this series. I will post the lineup for tonight when I get it later in the day.
- Four of the 13 games between Allen and Tulsa have gone to overtime so you could certainly see an overtime game this weekend. Allen has a five game overtime streak and has one of the best overtime records in the league. Here are the records:
- Allen: 5-3 in overtime, 2-1 in shootout for a .636 points percentage, ranked #3.
- Tulsa: 5-8 in overtime, 1-1 in shootouts for a .400 points percentage, ranked #22.
- Players to watch in this series for Allen include Colby McAuley who has 13 points (7G, 6A) in 13 games against Tulsa and Hank Crone, who has seven assists in the four games he has played against Tulsa. Chaz Smedsrud has been Allen's hottest goal scorer with three goals in six games since joining the Americans.
- The Tulsa player that has killed Allen is #15 Eddie Matsushima who has 18 points (8G, 10A) in 13 games against the Americans. Two other players, #3 Jarod Hilderman and #37 Kyle Crnkovic are averaging over a point per game against Allen.
- The referee scheduled tonight is #6 John Lindner and the linesmen will be #76 Daniel Barnes and #68 Zach Carson. Allen has had Lindner six times this season and has a record of 3-3 in the games he has been the referee. In those six games the Americans have been called for 38 penalties ranging from 2-10. Allen's opponents have been called for 29 penalties ranging from three to seven.
OTHER COMMENTS
- The ECHL announced its first and second All-ECHL teams yesterday. No Allen Americans were selected. Two Mountain Division players were selected to the first team (Patrick Kudla, Idaho & Patrick Curry, Kansas City) and two were selected to the second team (Matt Register, Idaho & Kyle Mayhew Utah). Interesting that three of the four defensemen on the All-ECHL teams are from the Mountain Division. Here is the press release with all the players selected, stats and details: https://echl.com/news/2024/04/all-echl-first-and-second-teams-announced
- The ECHL individual awards will be announced over the next week and winners are typically the stats leaders. Brandon Hawkins (Toledo) leads the league in points (96) and goals (40) and should be the favorite for MVP. The Defenseman of the Year should go to Jalen Smereck (Cincinnati) who has a 10 point lead (71 vs 61) and has been in the point lead all season. Rookie of the Year is a toss up. Cade Borchardt (Kansas City) leads in points (76), Blake Bennett (Rapid City) lead in goals (34) and Austin Magera (South Carolina) is the only rookie that is top three in points (74), goals (29), assists (45) and was just named to the All-ECHL second team. There is also a rookie defenseman, Kyle Meyhew (Utah) with 56 points and 41 assists and was also just named to the All-ECHL second team. The voting for Rookie of the Year should be close.
- There are 12 games in the ECHL tonight and four teams (Florida, South Carolina, Wheeling, Tulsa) have a chance to clinch a playoff spot. In addition, Adirondack can clinch the North Division championship. Here are the previews: https://echl.com/news/2024/04/echl-today-april-12
@barry txs for these. did you mean if utah wins both they are in. idaho is locked @ 2 correct?
ReplyDeleteIt's getting exciting. Great articles last couple of days.
ReplyDeleteHopefully some great games this weekend.
Barry,
ReplyDeleteI talked to Gens tonight after the win. I’m pretty sure you overheard. I’m a little perplexed, the players determine the game plan? Maybe I misunderstood. Am I nuts? I’ve never heard such a thing. I don’t do twitter or Facebook. Stop by tomorrow if you want to discuss, or not.
—Bobby 226