Sunday Afternoon Hockey Preview, Keys to Victory, Parsons #1 Star, Division Standings, Stat from the Past and More

 The Allen Americans play Tulsa this afternoon at 3:05 (CST) in Tulsa and don't play again until next Saturday when they play Tulsa at home. If you look at the season in sections, the game against Tulsa on the 15th will end the first section of the season. Allen's record with two games left in this opening section is 4-3-1-0 (.563). If you had to describe this first section of the season the word that comes to mind is favorable. A total of 10 games with seven at home. Just three road games to the closest opponents, Wichita and Tulsa.

For the Americans to call this first section of the season a success, Allen needs wins today and next Saturday against Tulsa. That would give them a record of 6-3-1-0 (.650) over the first ten games of the season. The next section of the schedule will be much tougher for the Americans. Here is a breakdown of what I call section two of the schedule:

• 12 games in 24 days from November 19 to December 13.
• Nine of the 12 games are on the road.
• A long six game road trip to Idaho (November 19, 21, 22) and Utah (November 26, 28, 29).,
• The three home games are against Utah (December 3, 5, 6)
• The Americans finish this 12-game section with a three-game trip to Rapid City (December 11, 12, 13).

- Allen has averaged 2.88 goals per game over its first eight game, but if you look behind this stat the Americans have scored 12 goals in two games and 11 goals in the other six. Here is a breakdown of the number of goals scored in the first eight games and the record:

• 6 goals: 2-0-0-0
• 3 goals: 2-0-0-0
• 2 goals: 0-1-0-0
• 1goal: 0-2-1-0

You can see from these stats that Allen hasn't reached three goals in half of its games thus far and lost them all. When the Americans have scored three or more goals, they are undefeated.  

- The line everyone is waiting to breakout is the McAuley-Hargrove-Crone line. As a group their career average points per game is 3.44. In 2022-23 their combined average points per game was 3.74. They were held scoreless on Friday, and as a group have averaged just .75 points per game this season. I assume they will be together again this afternoon, but as you have seen in the past, Martinson is not hesitant to switch up the lines if the team is not scoring. The top line of Caron-Gildon-Duarte is the line least likely to see change the way they have been playing.

- Coach Martinson has been consistent in talking about the key to success is how the team operates in the neutral zone. Coming through the neutral zone with speed, dumping the puck when there isn't a play to be made, and avoiding neutral zone turnovers are key. Martinson has mentioned to me several times recently the importance of skating and pace in today's ECHL. Players that aren't skating with pace all of the time find it hard to be successful.

-  A good start will be another key today. I sound like a broken record, but the stats do tell the story:

• Allen is 2-0-0-0 when scoring first, but they have allowed the first goal in six of eight games. 
• The overall league record when teams trail after the second period is 13-85-7-3  (.167).
• Allen has been outscored 11-6 in the first period.

- A final key this afternoon is for Allen to win the special teams battle, where they have a distinct advantage. Tulsa has scored just one power play goal all season. They Oilers have a 5.0% power play percentage, and 80.0% penalty kill percentage. Allen is 14.7% on the power play and 91.9% on the penalty kill. 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Allen was idle last night but got some help in the Mountain Division standings as the top two teams lost. Rapid City beat first place Tahoe 5-2 and Idaho beat second place Kansas City 2-1. The Americans have played the fewest games in the division (8), while Tahoe and Idaho have played the most (11). Allen vs Tulsa is the only Mountain Division game today so a chance for both teams to gain ground on the leaders.

- The Mountain Division standings have gotten even tighter, with the difference between the top team and the bottom team even closer after last night. Here is a comparison of point percentages between the top and bottom teams of each division that shows how the Mountain Division has the lowest point percentage of the first-place teams and the highest point percentage of the last place teams:

1st Place Teams

• .889 - South Division (Atlanta)
• .875 - North Division (Wheeling)
• .778 - Central Division (Fort Wayne)
• .626 - Mountain Division (Tahoe)

Last Place Teams

• .450 - Mountain Division (Rapid City & Wichita)
• .286 - Central Division (Kalamazoo)
• .188 - North Division (Worcester)
• .125 - South Division (Orlando)

.

- Jackson Parsons made his first start for Belleville last night and it was quite a night for the rookie. He gave up one goal and won the game 2-1 over Hartford. Parsons won't turn 21 until the 23rd of this month. After his first AHL game his stat line is a 1.00 GAA and a save percentage of .968. For his effort Parsons was named the #1 star of the game.

- I heard an interview with Belleville Coach David Campbell on Friday, and he wasn't specific on when injured goalie Mads Sogaard will return to the lineup. Luckily, after Allen's game today, the Americans don't play again until next Saturday and that is a home game. Since Martinson has not signed a goalie, he must expect Parsons to return sometime next week.,

- There are only six games on the ECHL schedule today. Here are the previews on all of them: https://echl.com/news/2025/11/echl-today-nov-9

- Here are Allen's stats leaders:

• Points (7) - Watts
• Goals (3) - Blaisdell, Duarte, Gildon
• Assists (6) - Watts
• Plus/Minus (+1) - Anania, Caron, Gildon, Hargrove
• PIM (15) - Caron
• Shots (32) - Duarte
• Shooting % (25%) - Blaisdell
• GAA (2.37) - Parsons
• Save % (.931) - Parsons

DID YOU KNOW: I thought for a change I would look back 10 years ago today and see what the "DID YOU KNOW" was all about. Some great Allen players were mentioned:

Both Brain McMillin (198) and Tyler Ludwig (195) are closing in on 200 games played for the Allen Americans. The all-time games played leaders are Jarret Lukin (238) and Mike Berube (229). 

FYI, the four players mentioned above are still in the exclusive club of 11 players with 200 career games played for the Allen Americans:

• 576 - Spencer Asuchak
• 282 - Chad Costello
• 247 - Tyler Ludwig
• 238 - Jarret Lukin
• 232 - Kris Myllari
• 229 - Mike Berube
• 228 - Gary Steffes
• 222 - David Makowski
• 215 - Brian McMillin
• 213 - Eric Roy
• 205 - Joel Chouinard