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| Allen & Wichita have a meet and greet during pregame warmups |
It has been a long time, November 9th to be exact, since the headline has been about an Allen loss but the win streak finally came to an end last night in Wichita as the Thunder beat the Americans 3-1 before a big crowd of 5110 at Intrust Bank Arena. It wasn't just the eight game overall win streak or the five game road win streak that came to end, many other streaks ended last night. Here are just a few:
- Allen lost for the first time after scoring the first goal of the game. They had been 8-0.
- Allen lost for the first time when leading after the first period. They had been 9-0.
- For the first time all year Jack Combs did not have a point. He had a point in 14 straight games.
- Chad Costello did not have a point. His eight game scoring streak ended.
- Allen only had one goal (scored by Trevor Ludwig). It was the first time all year the Americans scored less than two goals.
- Riley Gill was the losing goalie after eight consecutive wins.
The bottom line is Allen could not hold an early lead, the top line did not have a point for the first time all year and Allen could only score one goal. Whether it was the fourth game in five days, great play by Wichita, or some other factor it was not a typical Allen Americans game.
The road trip (five consecutive games on the road) is not over but the team headed home after the game last night and will get to spend a couple of nights in their own beds before a day trip to Tulsa on Tuesday and then back in Allen for a rematch with the Oilers on Wednesday.
STEVE MARTINSON'S POST GAME COMMENTS:
- It looked like we were a bit tired tonight as the team did not have the same jump that we have had recently.
- We had a lot of up close chances but the puck just didn't want to pay attention to what we were trying to do.
- We had bad coverage on one goal and another took a bad bounce, it was just not our night. We just need to look forward and start another run on Tuesday.
- I am proud how the team has done an about face from the start of the season and become one of the top teams in the league. If we would have won the game tonight we would have had the top winning percentage in the ECHL. Not bad for a team that had many pieces being added over the last month. It says a lot about this group of guys and their desire to win.
OTHER COMMENTS:
- With 22 points Allen maintains first place in the Central Division with Tulsa in second with 21 points. Wichita and Quad City are tied for third with 19 points. Allen has played fifteen games while the other three have all played seventeen games.
- Last weekend Allen beat Brampton twice as the Beast were mired in last place in the division. After leaving Allen, Brampton headed to Rapid City for three games. Brampton won all three games in Rapid City to climb out of the cellar. Last night the Beast won 2-1 despite getting out shot by the Rush 56-19. Needless to say the #1 star of the game was Beast goalie Grant Rollheiser.
- You may have heard about or seen pictures of the pregame dust up between Allen and Wichita when Trevor Ludwig was tripped by a Wichita player. Some pushing and shoving at center ice but that was about it. Have to admit it was nice to see Trevor get the first goal of the game. To be fair the player that tripped Ludwig (Erik Lizon) also scored a goal and his was the game winner for Wichita.
DID YOU KNOW: Close to half (46%) of the games on Allen's schedule this year are with Tulsa (16 games) and Wichita (17 games). I know the ECHL plays unbalanced schedules with a disproportionate number of games with teams that are geographically close but sure hope this doesn't get repeated next year.
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