Allen Destroys the Rush 9-3, A Trio of C'MON MANS, Martinson Post Game Comments & More

It is difficult to know where to begin in describing the 9-3 Allen Americans win over the Rapid City Rush last night. It was "Pink at the Rink" at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center to honor those that have fought and those fighting breast cancer. The 3739 fans in attendance witnessed a close game turn into a blowout in the third period and an ugly incident that doesn't belong in hockey.

- Greger Hanson led the scoring for Allen with four goals and an assist. Hanson scored the first three goals for Allen when the game was still in doubt. He had the only goal of the first period. After Rapid City tied the score 1-1 early in the second period he scored Allen's only goal of the second period to take a 2-1 lead into the second intermission. Greger got his third goal at 2:32 of the third period and that opened the flood gates for Allen. His fourth goal was a shorthanded goal late in the game.


- Allen scored six goals in the first nine minutes of the third period to take an 8-1 led and finished with seven goals in the period. Seven goals in a period is tied for fifth all time in the ECHL. Eight goals in a period has been accomplished three times and nine goals in a period has been accomplished once.


- Unfortunately Allen gave up two late goals on some defensive lapses after Riley Gill had played so well. He deserved a better fate.


- Hanson closed out the scoring with a shorthanded goal to make the final score 9-3. The four goals by Greger is tied for the most in the ECHL this year. He also tied the Allen franchise record for goals in a game. His five points is also tied for the most points in a game in the ECHL this season.


- Goal scorers for Allen were Greger Hanson (25, 26, 27, 28), Bryan Moore (19), Jon Martin (1), Dyson Stevenson (8), Chad Costello (26) and Derek Mathers (6). The good news is the Rush posted a highlight package to ECHL Rewind. The bad news would be it is the worst highlight package I have seen in all the years covering the the team. None of the nine Allen goals are included and the homer call of the week is included as the Rapid City broadcasters (one of which is a player) say after Dyson Stevenson got speared in the groin and deliberately slashed in the face, "Stevenson with an Oscar winning performance" and then spent their time talking about Allen having no class with no mention of the spear to the groin and slash to the face, two of the most classless and gutless plays in hockey.  C'MON MAN! If you want to see the highlights which are the three meaningless Rush goals and all of the brawl (with a homer point of view) you can find them at ECHL Rewind: http://www.echl.com/


- I don't normally include pictures like this in the blog but am making an exception in this case because of what was said by the Rush broadcasters about Dyson. If you get speared in the groin, slashed it the face and lose a tooth you just might be a little upset. Classless was the Rush player not hitting anyone when Derek Mathers was on the ice and then using his stick rather than dropping his gloves with Stevenson.  After all, Grant only outweighs Stevenson by about 85 pounds. C'MON MAN!

 - Allen has won the last two games in Rapid City and has yet to get a single star of the game. Last night Greger Hanson tied the ECHL record this season for goals (4) and points (5) in a game and doesn't get a star. I saw an explanation by the Rush on social media that the fans pick the three stars. The slight to the Allen players was obviously noticed by Allen fans but even other ECHL players took notice. Colorado Eagles Darryl Bootland had this to say on twitter, "Gotta love the guy who picked the 3 stars tonight in Rapid City. Must have been with Ed Dick all day! Hanson scored four and gets Ed Dicked!" Hanson had four goals including two power play goals and a shorthanded goal and adds one assist for five points and isn't one of the three stars of the game and the #1 star for Rapid City has no goals and no assists. Talk about amateur hour. C'MON MAN!


- Here is a recap of the game from the Rapid City Journal: http://rapidcityjournal.com/sports/americans-score-seven-in-third-period-marred-by-fisticuffs/article_c6978a63-1adf-55f5-9371-c6db50b08ee0.html


-  Here is the recap of the game from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/americans-explode-for-seven-goals-in-the-third-and-beat-rapid-city-9-3/



- In the game preview yesterday I talked about how the game last night could be a big one for the Americans with Riley Gill getting back in the lineup. The importance of a good start, not getting behind, having a strong third period and winning the special teams battle were all keys. Allen delivered in all categories which is a good sign. They scored the first goal, had a first period lead, scored four power play goals and had seven third period goals. This game just shows the potency of this team.



- Allen may be playing short today depending on what action the ECHL takes on the brawl in the third period. Tristan Grant will definitely be suspended and Dyson Stevenson may as well for throwing equipment. Miles Liberati had a wisdom tooth pulled yesterday and may be able to play tonight.


- It was good to see some secondary scoring in the game last night but the group of Hanson, Costello, Asuchak, Makowski, and Roy are virtually unstoppable right now. Another win tonight is critical for Allen given what went down last night. 


- The scheduled officiating crew tonight is the same as last night. Referee Oliver Gouin (#9) and linesmen Cade Bloomenrader (#91) and Logan Bellgraph (#0). Gouin was also the referee on Wednesday.


- It is always hard to predict how the game tonight will proceed after a penalty filled third period last night. Your inclination would be to predict a penalty filled affair tonight with the teams playing a third game in a row. With the same referee for the third straight game he will play a major role in keeping things under control. It is also worth noting that Rapid City will visit Allen for two games next week so there will be opportunities to square things up other than tonight. You can be assured Derek Mathers will be ready, willing and able to handle whatever comes up. It seems to me if Rapid City wants to get into a physical contest with Allen they will be playing right into the Americans hands.

Derek Mathers will be keeping watch tonight - photo courtesy of Mike Holum

 


DID YOU KNOW: The Allen Americans showed in the third period last night what this team is capable of going forward. Allen has the leading scorer in the league by 33 points (Chad Costello), the best goalie in the league (Riley Gill) in GAA (2.08) and save percentage (.939), the top goal scoring defenseman in the league (Eric Roy), the second leading point scorer among defenseman despite playing in just 28 games ( David Makowski) and the toughest enforcer in the league (Derek Mathers). Throw in a power play unit that has the top two power play goal scorers in the league (Greger Hanson & Spencer Asuchak), top two in power play assists (Costello & Makowski) and top two in power play points (Costello & Makowski). And did I mention the top line is #1 (Costello), #5 (Hanson) and #12 in the ECHL scoring race. Any way an opponent wants to play against Allen the Americans can handle. And the team hasn't reached its full potential yet.