Thanks to Halloween and Texas Friday night lights playoff football in Allen, the smallest Friday night crowd in memory (1788), was treated to the Allen Americans' first home win of the season. Allen beat Rapid City 3-2 to climb back to the .500 mark. At times, it was so quiet that you could hear what Coach Martinson was saying on the bench, but at other times, the small crowd made the noise of a group twice its size.
- There was a certain symmetry to the game that was unavoidable when looking at the box score:
- 3Cs scored the goals: Costantini, Caron, and Crone
- It was the 1st goal of the season for each of them
- Allen scored one goal in each period
- Allen scored first and won the game.
- Anthony Costantini scored at the 14:17 mark, and it created a bunch of firsts:
- 1st period
- 1st goal as an Allen American by Anthony
- 1st goal of the game
- 1st time this season Allen scored the 1st goal
- 1st lead after the 1st period this season (1-0).
- Allen took a 2-0 lead early in the second period (2:37) on Thomas Caron's unassisted goal. Rapid City managed to cut the lead to 2-1 late in the period as Blake Bennett scored his fourth goal of the season and second in as many nights. Allen took the 2-1 lead into the second intermission, and the odds were very much in their favor to come away with a victory. Thus far this season, ECHL teams trailing after the second period have a record of 8-50-6-1 for a point percentage of .177.
- When Rapid City tied the score 51 seconds into the third period, it was definitely pucker time, the way the season has gone thus far, but the 2-2 tie did not last long. Hank Crone scored his first official goal of the season just 42 seconds later to give the Americans a 3-2 lead they would never relinquish.
- It wasn't easy holding off Rapid City once Allen took the 3-2 lead. The Americans had to kill off two penalties, plus a long stretch (2:30) of extra attacker time. Great goaltending by Costantini, blocked shots by Duarte and Blaisdell, and an all-around good defensive effort saved the game for the Americans.
- It was a much better effort by the team, which included timely goals, a more physical style of play, and great defense. Once again, Marco Costantini was outstanding in goal, stopping 37 of 39 shots, including a couple of breakaways, to earn his first win of the season. Marco has played in three games and has a 1-1-1-0 record, but he has been very consistent. His save percentages in the three games he has played have been very consistent: .950, .951, and .949. Of the ECHL goalies that have played in three or more games, Marco's save percentage is #3 at .950.
- Here are the game recaps from both teams and the video highlights:
Allen Americans recap: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/10/tricks-and-treats-lead-to-first-home-win-of-the-season
Rapid City Rush recap: https://rapidcityrush.com/news/2025/10/game-recap-allen-holds-on-evens-series-with-3-2-victory-over-rush
Video Highlights: https://echl.com/videos/rapid-city-rush-vs-allen-americans-oct-31-2025
- To win the final game of the series tonight, Allen needs to maintain the intensity and physical play from last night. Rapid City outshot Allen 16-5 in the third period and 39-29 for the game, and that is a potential danger sign. Allen needs another big first period like last night when the Americans struck first and outshot the Rush 13-5.
- The other improvement needed tonight is on the power play. Allen was 0-3 last night and hasn't scored a power-play goal since the first game of the season. The penalty kill was perfect (0-6). In the last four games, Allen is 0-13 on the power play. Their two opponents have had 19 power plays. To their credit, the Americans have killed 18-19 and are 0-9 in the two games against the Rush. Keeping the Rapid City power play off the ice will be key tonight.
There will be just one referee working again tonight and it will be David Lilly (#25), who has worked all three games in this series. The linesmen will also be the same as last night, Joey Kramer (#90) and Aaron Schacht (#51).
STEVE MARTINSON'S COACH'S COMMENTS
I have said this many times, but reading my recap of Steve Martinson's chat with season ticket holders after the game isn't nearly as informative or entertaining as attending the sessions in person. It is 15-20 minutes after the game, well spent. Here is what Coach Martinson had to say last night after the SRO group gave him a standing ovation for the first home win since his return to Allen:
"I can see we are all in a good mood tonight."
"I thought tonight we played the Allen physical style we have advertised. Getting the lead with the first goal of the game was nice. Crone getting his first goal was big. There were a lot of positives in the game."
"The team saw a little different side of me today if they haven't played for me before. My message was I don't care who you are or what you have done in the past, we are going to start playing the game right, if it takes 2-3 hour practices to get things right. I don't know how players have been held accountable in the past. I do know what it takes to win, and when we won in the past, it was because our skill players played harder than the other team's skill. I take full responsibility for how we have approached the games to start the season. We have not been hard, like we need to be, but I saw big strides tonight."
"A lot of guys stepped up and played up to their capability tonight, but we can be better than we were tonight. We will get more dialed in.
"Our power play has to get better. We have a lot of guys who haven't played together except Hargrove and Crone, so we are still tweaking the power play. With the talent we have, we should get more power play goals."
OTHER COMMENTS
- Hank Crone scored his first goal of the season last night, and it was his first game-winning goal of the season. In reality, it was his second goal of the season and his second game-winning goal. The ECHL doesn't count shootout goals, so Hank's shootout game-winner in Wichita on opening night is not reflected as a goal or the game-winner. If you look at the stats, it shows no game-winner for that game. The fact is Allen has won two games thus far, and Crone has scored the goal that won the game in both of them.
- Matt Register did not play last night and was on the bench helping with the defense. He apparently is dealing with something that prevents him from playing. If Register is unable to play, Coach Martinson could bring in a fifth veteran under the veteran rules, as long as one veteran is on injured reserve. Florida carried five veterans for much of the season a couple of years ago, and it led to a championship.
- Danny Katic, the 6'5", 220-pound forward, who is under contract with Belleville, and started the season with Allen before being recalled on October 16, has returned. He will be in the lineup tonight.
- Emergency Back Up Goalies, known as EBUGs in hockey, have made for some fairytale moments in the NHL over the years, but the NHL EBUG rule is changing starting next season. It is extremely rare when both goalies are injured or sick for a NHL team requiring an EBUG to enter the game. It has happened just six times in the 13,068 regular-season games over the past 10 seasons, none in the playoffs. The new 2026-27 NHL EBUG rule changes from a local, on-call model to one where each team employs a full-time, traveling replacement.
The new EBUGs must not have played an NHL game on a standard player's contract, have more than 80 professional games played, or have played pro hockey in the last three years. The new full-time EBUG can be employed by the team in another capacity, such as goalie coach, equipment manager, or other parts of the hockey operations staff.
This new EBUG rule, going into effect next season, will end the unique fan favorite tradition of local amateur goalies getting a chance to play in a real NHL game. Allen fans will remember when Thomas Hodges, who practiced with the Americans when they were short a goalie for years and served as an EBUG numerous times, played in the NHL as an EBUG. Hodges played high school hockey for Plano West.
Hodges served as an EBUG for Allen many times and actually played in one game for one minute in 2016-17. He was also the EBUG for many ECHL teams that came to Allen short a goalie. The list includes, Idaho, South Carolina. Kansas City, Utah, Rapid City, Wichita, and Orlando.
Here are two videos of that special night in 2022 when Hodges' pro hockey career went from one minute as the Allen Americans EBUG to playing for the Anaheim Ducks:
- With the change in the NHL EBUG rules coming next season, this "Best EBUG Moments In NHL History" will become a classic. Some great stories in this video if you are a fan of the EBUG:
- There will be no such changes to the ECHL EBUG rules, and local goalies will be called on the fill-in when teams are shorthanded. After the game last night, I had a chance to talk to Landry Laird, who will serve as the Allen EBUG tonight for the third straight game. I found out that in addition to practicing and playing as the EBUG for Allen, he is a busy young man. He is pursuing his college degree through Liberty University and is working on his commercial pilot's license. He is a golf caddie in his spare time, which is very limited right now.
- All eight Mountain Division teams were in action last night, and five of them lost. Here are the results. The only home team (marked with an asterisk) that won was Allen:
- Tulsa beat *Kansas City 4-2
- Florida beat *Wichita 2-1
- *Allen beat Rapid City 3-2
- Tahoe beat *Idaho 5-2
- Jacksonville beat *Utah 3-2
- With the top teams losing and the bottom teams winning, the Mountain Division standings have tightened up a lot. Two days ago, the point percentages ranged from .800 to .200. Today, they are from .667 to .333.
- .667 - Kansas City
- .600 - Wichita
- .571 - Tahoe
- .571 - Idaho
- .500 - Allen
- .500 - Rapid City
- .438 - Utah
- .333 - Tulsa
- It is not a full slate of games tonight, but 26 of 30 ECHL teams will be in action tonight. Games of interest include whether the only undefeated team remaining, Atlanta (4-0-0-0), can keep the streak going when they play Savannah at home, and whether Greensboro (0-3-2-0) can get its first franchise win playing at Trois Riviéres. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2025/11/echl-today-nov-1
- Jaxon Nelson (IA) and Sloan Stanick (TAH) continue to lead the ECHL in scoring with 12 points. Nelson (6G, 6A) and Stanick (5G, 7A) are averaging 1.71 points per game over their first seven games. If they maintain that pace for the full season, they would end up with 123 points. The last player to total 125 points in a season was Chad Costello, who had 125 points in 2016-17.
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about the top penalty kill teams this season. Allen is just below the top five, ranked #6 at 88.0%.
Great job Marty and the boys getting it done. Now let's back it up on a big crowd Saturday and grab 5/6 points for the weeekend. In red we ride!!
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