- With the win last night Tulsa is now tied with Allen for the fourth and final playoff spot with eight games remaining. Tulsa has a much more favorable schedule as they have five games at home against the two worst teams in the ECHL whose combined record over the last 10 games is 2-15-1-2.
- How bad was the game last night for the Americans? They were outshot in every period for a game total of 52-27. It was the most shots allowed by Allen in the 13 games against Tulsa this season. Combine that with the Americans tallying only 27 shots on goal, the fewest number in the 13 games against the Oilers all season. As coach Martinson said to me after the game, "You can't expect to win when you give up 52 shots on goal."
- Allen fans had to feel uneasy when Tulsa scored the first goal of the game at the 4:33 mark of the first period and rightfully so. Scoring first is prophetic when these team play each other. They played 13 times this season and the team that scored first won 12 times.
- Allen did comeback to tie the score 1-1 midway through the first period on a goal by Braylon Shmyr who was taking his third shift in his first professional game. See details on Braylon Shmyr below. As Shmyr described his first professional goal, "It was a great pass by J.C. Campagna and all I had to do was tap it in the net." The first period ended with the score tied 1-1 which was fortunate for the Americans since they were outshot 20-7.
- There was no scoring in the second period as Allen fell even further behind on shots for a two period total of 38-19. The game came down to who could win the third period and it didn't take long to know it would be Tulsa. The Oilers scored at the 3:00 minute mark and 6:08 mark to put the game away. Casey Pierro-Zabotel scored with 17 seconds remaining to make the final score 3-2.
- Despite their poor play over the first two periods, thanks largely to goalie Jake Paterson, the Americans had a chance to win the game if they could win the third period. Being good in the third period has been a hallmark of the Allen Americans in the past but not the case this season. Third period goal differential (goals scored minus goals allowed) explains this perfectly. Last season Allen's third period goal differential was +61 (120-59). After losing the third period 2-1 last night, Allen's third period goal differential is now -12 (68-80). If you do the math the Americans have scored 52 fewer goals in the third period than they did last season and they have allowed 21 more goals.
- Allen's power play has been hit or miss all season and missed last night going 0-5. The power play is now ranked #17 in the league at 16.8%. The penalty kill was good allowing one goal on seven Tulsa opportunities and that was a five-on-three goal. Allen penalty is ranked #21 in the ECHL at 81.4%.
- Here are the highlights from ECHL Rewind: https://www.echl.com/
- Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans with quotes from goalie Jake Paterson: https://allenamericans.com/americans-lose-tight-one-tulsa-3-2/
- Here is the game recap from the Tulsa World: http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/oilers/oilers-road-report-ryan-tesink-scores-third-period-goals-in/article_c9079c7e-f868-5873-bf19-1b6465e2bf9b.html
STEVE MARTINSON'S PREGAME & POST GAME COMMENTS
"Tulsa just out worked us. It was frustrating to watch. I think after our road trip we thought we could just put our skates on and come out and win at home but you can't win without effort."
"We missed Makowski on the power play which was anemic tonight. We will have to work on that at practice tomorrow. It is hard to look at just one thing as we need to work harder at in all phases of the game."
"You are not going to win many games when you allow 52 shots on goal."
"We are not working hard enough and we are not supporting the puck when we are in their zone. You can't sit in space waiting for a pass, players have to do a better job of supporting the puck."
OTHER COMMENTS
- It will be back at practice for Allen this morning as they prepare for two games against Kansas City this weekend (Friday and Saturday). Another matchup between two teams battling for their playoff lives. I know coach Martinson was up early this morning breaking down video of the game last night so he can share with the team specific examples where they weren't supporting the puck.
- Coach Martinson mentioned in his post game interview that he expects additional roster changes in the coming week and I know he continues to recruit players that are still in the college/junior playoffs. There is also the possibility of AHL players being assigned to Allen.
- The San Jose Barracuda played last night in Tuscon and beat the Roadrunners 4-3 in overtime despite being outshot 34-18. Colby McAuley was the #1 star of the game with a goal, an assist and was +2. It was Colby's first multi point game of his AHL career. Alex Schoenborn played in the game but did not factor in the scoring. It was just the third game for Schoenborn since he was recalled from Allen in January 19. David Makowski did not play.
BRAYLON SHMYR PLAYER PROFILE
- Jared Bethune and Braylon Shmyr both played in their first professional game last night and had an immediate impact. They add speed and quickness to the lineup along with a ton of scoring potential. They just finished their junior careers in the tough Western Hockey League (WHL) and combined had 157 points this season (55 goals 99 assists). I talked about Bethune in the blog yesterday. Here is some information on Shmyr.
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| Braylon Shmyr |
- Braylon Shmyr just finished his junior career playing for the Saskatoon Blades in the WHL. On the Blades website the 20 year old left shot forward is listed at 5'10" and 167 pounds. He led the team in scoring this season with 88 points (37 goals 51 assists). Here are a few quotes from his coach and opposing WHL coaches that help describe what the Americans are getting in Shmyr.
"That is just a pure goal-scorer. He loves to score and when he doesn't, he doesn't feel right."
"He loves scoring. Anytime you get somebody who loves scoring, it can be contagious. He's just really a fun person to be around and he has played really well for us."
"His ability to see the play, offensively, is one thing, He has got some deception to his game. He can change speeds with the best of them."
- Braylon sure lived up to his reputation last night scoring his first goal in the first period of his first professional game.
- Braylon comes from a speed skating background. He has an older sister, Courtney who is a nationally ranked short track speed skater who was a gold medal winner in the Canada Games and his older brother Tyler is also a former elite level speed skater who is now involved in mountain bike and BMX racing. Braylon has a younger brother (Cayden) who plays hockey.
- Here is a video interview from a year ago in Saskatoon where junior reporter Kayla helps you get to know Braylon Shmyr. This young Kayla may be another Kayla McLain, Allen game host, in the making. http://saskatoonblades.com/video/kayla-gets-to-know-braylon-shmyr-in-the-latest-junior-reporter-interview
- Shmyr is not a fighter at all having just two fights in his entire junior career of 300 games but one of his two fights was against Colby McAuley which was not a wise decision given the fact McAuley had 18 fights in one season (2015-16) alone. Here is that tilt:
Here are Shmyr's stats courtesy of hockeydb.com
Braylon Shmyr
Left Wing -- shoots LBorn May 16 1997 -- Calgary, ALTA
[20 yrs. ago]
Height 5.10 -- Weight 163
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2012-13 | Brandon Wheat Kings | WHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2013-14 | Brandon Wheat Kings | WHL | 34 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 4 | -3 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2014-15 | Brandon Wheat Kings | WHL | 65 | 18 | 22 | 40 | 22 | 19 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
| 2015-16 | Brandon Wheat Kings | WHL | 28 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 4 | 18 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2015-16 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 34 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 10 | -15 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2016-17 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 66 | 35 | 31 | 66 | 20 | -12 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2017-18 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 72 | 37 | 51 | 88 | 16 | -2 | |||||
| 2017-18 | Allen Americans | ECHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||
DID YOU KNOW: There is nobody working harder to make the playoffs than coach Steve Martinson. When I stopped by his office after the game last night he was hard at work going through the goals allowed and noting the defensive breakdowns and making plans for video review with the team prior to taking the ice for practice in the morning. He is recruiting each and every day in an effort to improve the roster. Martinson takes great pride in the fact that his teams have missed the playoffs just once in 22 years and that one time was a special situation where the team was folding and he lost six players to the AHL and six players to season ending injuries. Martinson has no intent of missing the playoffs this season and his is as driven to make that happen as he was his first season in 1995. I wouldn't count him out until Allen is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.
I believe you when you say "no one is working harder than Coach Martinson." Too bad Coach Martinson isn't on the ice. Considering I didn't see anyone really working last night, other than the new guys, you are spot on Barry. Unfortunately, the lack of heart, drive and passion I witnessed last night I think Coach Martinson may soon have his second missed play offs in 22 years. Sad.
ReplyDeleteThe loss to Tulsa was hard to watch.
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