- It took just seven seconds for Allen to take the lead back at the start of the second period when Spencer Asuchak put in a rebound off a shot by Zach Pochiro. Eric Roy scored what ended up the game winner at the 6:28 mark of the second period to give Allen a 3-1 lead and they never looked back. Daniel Leavens scored his second goal of the game on a five-on-three power play to cut the score to 3-2 but that is as close as the Rush would get.
- Mathieu Aubin and Alex Guptill (empty net) scored third period goals to make the final score 5-2. To recap the goal scorers for Allen, they were Connor Reilly (2), Spencer Asuchak (9), Eric Roy (11), Mathieu Aubin (7) and Alex Guptill (22). It was a night for breaking scoring droughts. For Reilly it was his first goal since November 24th (26 games) and Aubin scored his first goal since December 27th (25 games). Eric Roy had gone 16 games without a goal and I saw him throw the monkey off his back after he scored.
- Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/americans-end-streak-beat-rapid-city-5-2/
- Here is the game recap issued by the Rapid City Rush: http://www.rapidcityrush.com/news/?article_id=993
- Here are the video highlights courtesy of Sporfie: bit.ly/2CVk3ai @sporfiemoments
- Here are Steve Martinson's pregame comments:
- Here are coach Martinson's post game comments: bit.ly/2tad6CP
- Martinson's comments to the season ticket holders after the game were brief because as he said, "I have a lot of stuff going on tonight as I am working on a trade." Here are some of his brief comments.
"I thought our goalie had a great game night. It was tough when he had to face 1:47 of a five-on-three power play. They have five pretty skilled guys on their power play."
"After the first 10 minutes of the game I thought we outplayed them. Watching the first 10 minutes I was thinking we had a good week of practice but we are getting outplayed as their first line kept making plays down low."
"We got two goals from the third line tonight which was huge because we havent had that in quite some time."
"Thomas Frazee will arrive tomorrow at 2:00 pm and will be in the lineup tomorrow night." He will give us more depth."
"We moved the puck around better on the power play and we had lots of pucks on the net with traffic in front. What is frustrating is we have the same guys on the power play now as we did when it was over 20%. It has been terrible the last month so hopefully we will get the power play going again."
ALLEN VS RAPID CITY REMATCH
- It is pretty clear from his public comments that coach Martinson has some trades in the works. What impact that might have on the lineup tonight remains to be seen. There could be one player missing and of course newly acquired Thomas Frazee will be in the lineup.
- As coach Martinson stated in his post game interview the team played better last night but still has some work to do. Despite winning 5-2 they once again lost the special teams battle. The Allen power play definitely looked better but went 0-3 and is now at 4.3% (2-46) over the last 10 games. The penalty kill unit gave up one goal but it is hard to find fault as it was scored on a long (1:47) five-on-three power play. Over the last 10 games the penalty kill is at 78.0% (9-41). It will be difficult for Allen to win consistently until the special teams play improves. They came close on the power play last night so maybe the breakout will happen tonight.
- Daniel Leavens has played two games against his old teammates since being traded to Rapid City. He had two assists in the first game and two goals in the second (last night). Might want to keep an eye on Leavens tonight.
- Allen has won five of six games against Rapid City this season and that success has some common threads. Rapid City has not out shot Allen in any game this season. Allen scored five or more goals in their five wins, they had three goals in the lone loss. The only game the Americans lost to the Rush they didn't score the first goal of the game.
- It doesn't sound like Allen vs Rapid City but in the last two games between these teams each team has just four penalties and eight penalty minutes. That's right, the combined penalty minutes for both teams for the last two games is 16 minutes which is much less than Allen's average for one game (21.39 minutes). Would have to guess the penalty minutes might be higher in the rematch tonight.
- Officials scheduled for the game are referee Sean Fernandez (#21) and linesmen Brian Bull (#95) and Aaron Schacht (#31). It is the same crew that worked the game last night.
OTHER COMMENTS
- With the win last night Allen gained ground in the standings as both Utah and Tulsa lost. Quad City beat Utah 7-6 in a shootout and Tulsa lost to Colorado 4-1. Tulsa is still in fourth place but just one point ahead of Allen. Utah is in sixth place one point behind the Americans. Allen has played two fewer games than Tulsa and one fewer than Utah. Tulsa plays Colorado again tonight while Utah is in Indy to play the Fuel.
- The San Jose Barracuda beat Bakersfield 2-1 in overtime yesterday afternoon. Colby McAuley played and had no points, a two minute kneeing penalty and one shot on goal. Alex Schoenborn was a healthy scratch. The Barracuda's next game is Sunday at noon Pacific time.
- Olivier Archambault did not play in Syracuse's 3-2 win over Binghamton last night. They play at home against Laval last night.
- If you are into jersey auctions there are a couple of opportunities available for you. The special San Jose Sharks affiliate warm up jerseys the team wore last night and will wear again tonight are up for auction. Half of these warmup jerseys are listed now and and will end Sunday. The other half will go to auction on Monday. In addition, during the game tonight the team will be wearing specialty gray eagle jerseys. Half of these gray eagle jerseys are listed now and will end Sunday. The other half will go to auction on Monday. If you have any questions stop by the team store and talk to Michelle. Here is the link to the auction site: https://one.bidpal.net/goamericans/welcome
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| Affiliate Warmup Jersey |
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| Gray Eagle jersey |
DID YOU KNOW: It is fascinating to look at the Allen Americans history and compare average goals scored per game. Would you be surprised to know the most prolific goal scoring team in Allen history lost in the third round of the playoffs and the teams with the two lowest average goals per game in franchise history won the championship? Here are the average goals per game (regular season) for each team in Allen history with their playoff results in parentheses:
2009-10: 3.28 (lost in finals)
2010-11: 4.20 (lost in third round)
2011-12: 3.21 (lost in first round)
2012-13: 3.18 (won championship)
2013-14: 3.77 (won championship)
2014-15: 4.05 (won championship
2015-16: 3.08 (won championship)
2016-17: 4.08 (lost in second round)
2017-18: 3.26 (lost in first round)
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