Win Streak Snapped, Game Recap, Unusual Hat Trick, All-Star Weekend and More

 

The Tulsa Oilers snapped the Allen Americans' six-game winning streak last night, with a come-from-behind 5-2 victory. Two empty net goals made the score look more one-sided than it was. The game started just like Friday night, with no scoring in the first period, and Allen scoring the first goal in the second period. Brayden Watts scored his 16th goal of the season to give Allen the lead. Unlike Friday night, Tulsa tied the score at 16:29 of the second period, and the teams went into the intermission tied 1-1.   

 

- When Allen took a 2-1 lead on the power play at the 7:23 mark of the third period on Sam Sedley's fourth goal of the season, it looked like Allen was headed for a win. The Americans have been rock solid when leading in the third period. FYI, Sedley's goal was his 19th power play point, which leads the ECHL.

 

- Tulsa got life, scoring the tying goal on a mistake by Jackson Parsons. He went behind the net to clear the puck, lost it, and could not get back before Tulsa put the puck in the net. A couple of minutes later, a defensive breakdown allowed Tulsa to take the lead. Allen pulled Parsons to try to tie up the game, which resulted in two empty net goals.

 

- It was a disappointing end to Allen's win streak. The official stats show Allen was 1-4 on the power play, but Allen had plenty of missed opportunities. The Americans started the second period with a two-minute power play, added a four-minute power play at 5:35, and another two minutes at 6:36. With all that power play time, including two minutes of 5-on-3, Allen was held scoreless.  In the third period, Allen got another four-minute power play, took a penalty to negate two of the four minutes, but still couldn't score. 

 

- Here are the game recaps:

• Allen Americans - "Americans Six Game Winning Streak Halted" -https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/01/game-recap-americans-six-game-winning-streak-halted 
• Tulsa Oilers - - Cade McNelly Nets 1st, 2nd, 3rd Pro Goals to Power Tulsa Past Americans" - https://tulsaoilers.com/news/2026/01/cade-mcnelly-nets-first-second-and-third-professional-goals-as-his-hat-trick-powers-oilers-past-americans 

 

- Tulsa defenseman Cade McNelly beat Allen single-handedly last night with a hat trick, according to the Tulsa press release recapping the game. Before last night, McNelly had played 58 professional games, all in Tulsa, and had zero goals. He led Tulsa in penalty minutes per game last year and is second this season. He is a tough guy who doesn't score but fights. Before his three goals last night, McNelly had zero points in 24 games, but he has already had six fights this season, four against Allen. He has fought Murray, Morrison, and Simmons-Fischer twice. It is a kick in the butt to get beaten by a player who had never scored a pro goal. It shows you how hard work, some luck, and will over skill can make a difference.   

 

- The Americans bused back to Allen after the game last night and will be busy with All-Star activities and the game today and tomorrow. The official All-Star break is next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (20-22). The Americans will not take these days off. Allen will take their three-day break later in the season. Steve Martinson has always had that agreement with the players. They just had a bunch of days off with the Christmas break, plus the strike, so giving the players three days off later in the season when they need to rest makes a lot of sense.  

 

- The Americans will play only two official games between today and their next home game on January 30, when they start a three-game series against Rapid City. Allen visits Idaho for two games next week on Friday and Saturday. It will be a big test for the resurgent Americans, who have won 12 of their last 16 games. Remember, dating back to last season, Allen has lost nine straight games to Idaho. At a minimum, Allen needs to split this two-game series to show they can now compete with the top three teams in the Division (Kansas City, Idaho, Tahoe). Thus far, the top three teams' record against Allen is 8-1-0-0.

 

-  Here is the update of point-per-game scorers over the past 15 games:

• 19 points (13G, 6A) - Katic (1.27) 
• 19 points (7G, 12A) - Watts (1.27)  
• 18 points (5G, 13A) - Hargrove (1.20)   
• 18 points (3G, 15A) - Sedley (1.20)    
• 18 points (3G, 15A) - Crone (1.20) 
• 17 points (9G, 8A) - McAuley (1.13) 

 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Allen lost ground to a couple of the Mountain Division leaders last night. Kansas City and Tahoe won while Idaho lost. Here are the updated standings: 

• .771 - Kansas City (54 points)
• .662 - Idaho (49 points 
• .618 - Tahoe (47 points)
• .597 - Allen (43 points)
• .500 - Rapid City (35 points)
• .500 - Wichita (35 points)
• .414 - Utah (29 points)
• .343 - Tulsa (24 points) 

 

- Allen's power play could have scored more last night, but it went 1-4 and improved the power play percentage to 21.2%. The Americans have a power play goal in 14 of the last 15 games. In the last five games, the Americans have scored eight power-play goals. 

 

- The Americans are idle today on a light Sunday ECHL schedule. Only six games are being played this afternoon, one in the Mountain Division (Kansas City at Utah). Here are the previews: https://echl.com/news/2026/01/echl-today-jan-18 

 

- I have never understood why the ECHL schedules regular-season games on the same day as the All-Star game. I will try to get the commissioner's take on the history and reasoning behind this. Here are the games scheduled tomorrow:

• Jacksonville at Orlando
• Greensboro at Reading
• Greenville at Atlanta
• Kalamazoo at Cincinnati

 

- The Hall of Fame Luncheon tomorrow is sold out. I hope to see a lot of Allen fans in attendance to honor Riley Gill as he enters the Hall of Fame. I will have a full report on Tuesday.

 

DID YOU KNOW: Here is the ECHL Stats post from today. I was trying to point out that a lot of top players don't make the All-Star team because there is a player selected from each team. I doubt it will ever happen, but it would be great to have the best players from each conference meet in an All-Star game. I am sure cost would be a major factor in selecting twice as many All-Stars. Anyway, here is how the players originally selected, and the replacement players currently rank by points/save percentage:

Since each ECHL team is represented on the All-Star team, where the selectees rank among all of their peers vary widely. A player could lead his team in points, but be ranked way down the list compared to all the other players. 

 

Here is where the All-Star players are ranked. For example, the top two goalies in save percentage did not make the All-Star team, but the 29th-ranked goalie did. Numbers are repeated on the forwards list because players were tied in points.

 

Goalies - Save percentage

3, 4, 6, 10, 13, 29

  

Defensemen - Points

1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 17, 23

 

Forwards - Points

1, 3, 3, 8, 8, 12, 12, 15, 17, 25, 33, 42, 58, 70, 70, 79, 121, 121