It's game day for the Allen Americans as they begin yet another three games in three days. Unlike the last 3-in-3 when the Americans played in three different cities, the team will be nice and cozy all weekend in their hotel and casino, right by the Tahoe Blue Event Center.
- The Tahoe Knight Monsters are in their second ECHL season and have been a success from the get-go. In season one (2024-25), Tahoe finished #3 in the Mountain Division and beat Wichita 4-0 in the first round of the Kelly Cup playoffs, before losing to Kansas City in round two. This season, the Knight Monsters are in third place in the division with 35 points and a points percentage of .583. Allen is in fourth place with 31 points and a points percentage of .574. Allen has three games in hand over Tahoe.
- Another dynamic in play in this series is Zawyer Sports consults on operations for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. Tim Tebow, former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner, is a minority owner of the Tahoe franchise. Given Allen's history with Zawyer Sports, you know owner Myles Jack would love to see the Americans win this series.
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The game tonight will be the first of five games against Tahoe this
season. After the three games in Tahoe this weekend, the Americans won't see Tahoe again until they visit Allen at the end of the season (April 10 & 11).
- Here are some comparison stats between Allen and Tahoe:
- Allen's record is 14-10-3-0, Tahoe's is 16-11-1-2.
- Allen is 7-3-0-0 over the last 10 games, Tahoe is 3-5-0-2.
- Allen is 6-6-2-0 on the road, Tahoe is 8-6-0-1 at home.
- Allen's goal differential is +8 (93-85), Tahoe's is +9 (108-99).
- Allen's team plus/minus is +20, Tahoe's is +13.
- Allen's team save percentage is .916, Tahoe's is .913.
- Here are more statistical comparisons between the two
teams.
- Goals scored average: Allen (3.4) - Tahoe (3.6)
- Goals allowed average: Allen (3.1) - Tahoe (3.3)
- Shots for average: Allen (31.7) - Tahoe (32.7)
- Shots against average: Allen (37.4) - Tahoe (37.4)
- Power play percentage: Allen (18.9%) - Tahoe (24.7%)
- Penalty kill percentage: Allen (85.8%) - Tahoe (81.9%)
- Allen might catch a break in this series. Tahoe's top player, Sloan Stanick, has been recalled to the Henderson Silver Knights (AHL) and may miss this series. Stanick is the reigning ECHL Rookie of the Year, and leads Tahoe in points (34), goals (15), assists (19), points per game (1.17), shots (119), shorthanded goals (2), and first goals (6). He will definitely be missed if he isn't available. Tahoe played shorthanded in Rapid City on New Year's Eve, with only 15 skaters, and also used an EBUG. They could be playing shorthanded again tonight.
- Based on the outcome of the game on Wednesday, I expect Allen's lineup to be the same tonight except for Marco Costantini in goal. Marco leads the ECHL in games (17), minutes played (1002), and saves (601). I will post the lineups on Facebook and X later this afternoon.
- Scoring first is key to any game, as the team that scores first wins almost 75% of the points. Allen is at the low end of the league, scoring first in 44% of its games. Tahoe is at the top of the league, scoring first in 63% of its games. However, the results when they score first are very different. Allen has scored first 12 times and has a record of 9-1-2-0 (.833). Tahoe has scored first 19 times and has a record of 10-7-1-1 (.579).
- A good start will be key in this series. Neither team has a good record when trailing, but Tahoe doesn't trail as much as Allen. Goals by period are very telling. Allen has a negative goal differential in the first period (-5), scoring 23 goals and allowing 28. Tahoe has a first-period goal differential of +13, scoring 34 goals and allowing only 21. Tahoe has a -7 goal differential in the third period, scoring 31 goals and allowing 38. Allen has a +7 third-period goal differential, scoring 33 goals and allowing 26. The first period will very likely tell the story of this game. Can Allen avoid having to play from behind? If they weather the storm in the first period, the Americans will be fine. Tahoe has led after the first period in over half of its games. Allen's record when trailing after the first period is 1-9-1-0.
- Allen's power play has been much better recently. even though the team is ranked #13 (18.9%). The Americans have a power play goal in their last five games, going 7-16 (43.8%). The penalty kill has been much worse recently than the team's #5 ranking of 85.8%. How bad has the penalty kill been? From October 31 to December 17, Allen gave up seven power-play goals. In the last three games, the Americans have given up five power-play goals, going 5-12, a penalty kill percentage of 58.3%.
- Allen's penalty kill will be challenged in this series. Tahoe has the second-ranked power play in the league (24.7%) and has scored 24 power play goals in 30 games. You add in the six shorthanded goals Tahoe has scored (Allen has just one), and the Knight Monsters average one special teams goal per game.
- If you are looking for players to watch in this series, you could name half of the Allen players. The Americans have won six of their last seven games. In those six wins, Allen never scored fewer than five goals and averaged 5.5 goals per game. For Tahoe, players to watch include Sloan Stanick (#92) if he gets reassigned back to Tahoe (which I doubt). Devon Paliani (#65) has five points (3G, 2A) and 23 shots in his last three games, so he is on fire. Defenseman Seth Myers (#95) leads all ECHL defensmen with eight goals.
- Tahoe has struggled after a great start to the season, and Allen is just the opposite, struggling early but has been much improved recently. Here are the December records for both teams:
Tahoe: 3-5-0-2 (.400)
Allen: 8-3-0-0 (.727)
Allen has won four straight series, and if they continue playing the way they have in December, the Americans will have a great chance to win this series.
- The game tonight will use the two-referee system. Brendan Schreider (#12) worked the Allen game solo on New Year's Eve. He will be joined by Sydney Harris (#16) tonight.
OTHER COMMENTS
- I have heard Coach Martinson talk recently about how the impact of being in top shape shows up at the end of a series. How has Allen done in these situations?
- December 17-21 - lost to Kansas City after winning the first three games of a 4-in-5.
- December 11-13 - beat Rapid City in game three after splitting the first two games.
- December 3-6 - lost to Utah in game three after winning the first two games. (at home)
- November 26-29 - lost to Utah in game three after winning the first two games. (road games).
- November 18-21 - lost to Idaho in game three after losing the first two games.
- Here is the game preview issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/01/game-day-preview-americans-open-2026-in-nevada
- There are 14 games scheduled around the ECHL tonight. I would say the highlight game will be Fort Wayne, the #2 team in the Central Division, visiting Kansas City, the #2 team in the Mountain Division in a cross-division rivalry.
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about 10 and 15 goals scorers:
Here are the number of players who have scored 10 or more goals this season for each ECHL team:
4: ATL, IDH, SC, TAH
3: ALN
2: BLM, FW, ORL, RC, TOL
0: ADK, GSO, GVL, IND, JAX, MNE, NOR, SAV, TR, WHL, WOR
If you look at players with 15 or more goals, that club is very small, just five members:
16 goals - Brendan Hoffman, Idaho
15 goals - Brandon Hawkins, Toledo
15 goals - Sloan Stanick, Tahoe
15 goals - Spencer Kersten, Orlando
15 goals - Reed Lebster, Utah
