- The reward for letting the Steelheads back in the series was an early wakeup call this morning to head to the airport for a flight to Boise where the Americans will play game six on Tuesday and if necessary game seven on Wednesday.
- Once again Allen scored first as they have in all five games in this series but for the second straight game the first goal was the only goal for the Americans. The script last night was just like the one on Friday night. The Americans scored first and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission but couldn't add to their goal total over the last 48 minutes of the game. Idaho tied the score on an even strength goal and got the game winner on the power play. The only difference from the loss on Friday night is the power play goal last night was a five-on-three.
- Allen had plenty of opportunity to tie the score in the third period as they outshot Idaho 21-11. For the entire game the Americans had 42 shots on goal but so did the Steelheads. You have to go back to December to find a game when Allen had 42 shots on goal. The offense has dried up the last two games not because of lack of shots but the inability to finish. In the first three games of this series (all wins) Allen scored 13 goals on 82 shots for a shooting percentage of 15.8%. In the last two games (both losses) Allen had two goals on 70 shots for a shooting percentage of 2.9%.
- Unlike Friday night when Allen got off to a rocky start even though they scored first, last night the Americans came out strong and almost scored in the first minute of the game when Pierro-Zabotel clanged a shot off the post. The Americans killed off a double minor penalty to David Makowski five minutes into the game. At the 12:00 mark Makowski scored the first goal of the game and it came on the power play, just their second power play goal of the series, and it looked like the night would belong to the Americans. After scoring just one goal on Friday there was little chance for that to happen again last night. After all, during the 72 game regular season only once (against the Florida Everblades) did Allen have so few goals in back to back games.
- Here is the game recap from the Idaho Steelheads. http://www.idahosteelheads.com/events/idaho-steelheads-vs-allen-americans-13/#gametab-2
- Here are the video highlights from ECHL Rewind: https://www.echl.com/
- Here is the Sporfie highlight of Allen's lone goal scored by David Makowski on the power play. It was David's third goal of the playoffs which leads the team. A couple of things to note on this goal. Braylon Shmyr draws two defenders as he enters the zone and then passes to Makowski. Notice how Makowski hesitates before shooting to avoid the defender going down to block the shot. https://sporfie.app.link/fBt34LBRkM
STEVE MARTINSON'S COMMENTS
- Pregame interview with Kayla McLain:
- Post game interview with Kayla McLain:
- After talking with coach Martinson after the game it is clear he is still confident about the outcome of the series. The team has played well in Idaho but needs to regroup and get ready for Tuesday night. It is all of the little things that will add up to success and the team needs to do a better job of making plays. Martinson made a point of saying how the experienced players need to step up in game six.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Zach Pochiro did not play because he was sick. He should be back in the lineup on Tuesday. It remains to be seen if any players stayed home because of injury.
- Vincent Arseneau did not play yesterday as Utica lost to Toronto. Utica trails 2-0 in the best of five series with game three scheduled for Wednesday in Utica. According to the AHL website Utica has 22 forwards on their roster with 12 dressing for each game. It sure would be great for the Americans if Arseneau is not going to play he could return to Allen.
- Fort Wayne beat Cincinnati 4-2 yesterday to become the fifth team to advance to the second round of the playoffs. The division finals are set in the South Division (Florida vs Orlando) and the Central Division (Toledo vs Fort Wayne). In the North Division Manchester has advanced and is awaiting the winner of the Adirondack vs Worcester series. Adirondack leads 3-2. Neither division finalist has been decided in the Mountain Division. Allen and Colorado both jumped out to 3-0 series leads before losing two straight at home. Both of these series will be completed no later than Wednesday.
- Adirondack is at Worcester tonight and Colorado is at Wichita. It is possible after the games tonight the Allen vs Idaho series is the only first round series still being contested.
- Here is the updated bracket after the games yesterday. Notice thus far only one lower seeded team (Orlando) has advanced to the second round. Remember only once in the last 10 years was the Kelly Cup champions not a #1 or #2 seed.
- Another complication for Allen in losing last night and having to return to Boise is their travel plans if they advance to the second round. If Allen beats Idaho and Colorado beats Wichita the Americans will not return home before the start of the second round. They will travel directly to Colorado for the first two games of the series which would presumably start this weekend. First things first however as Allen needs a win in Boise.
- Here is the Sporfie video of the play where J.C. Campagna was hurt last night. This is not the point of view of many Allen fans but after talking to coach Martinson among others after the game the consensus was this was not a penalty. It was a collision where neither player was looking and neither player changed course to initiate contact. The Idaho player did raise his arms but just at the last second to protect himself. The call that had the coaching staff scratching their heads was the roughing penalty on David Makowski early in the third period when the Idaho defenseman was holding Makowski for several seconds right in front of the referee. https://sporfie.app.link/v5AsehtZkM
DID YOU KNOW: The historical percentages still weigh heavily in favor of the Americans in this series even though Idaho has won the last two games. There have been 385 seven game series in the NHL when a team has had a 3-2 series lead. The record in game six for the teams with a 3-2 lead is 216-169 (56.1%) and the record for winning the series is 303-82 (78.7%). It should also be noted Allen has won three of their last four games in Idaho.
I disagree Barry... If you watch the Campagna hit, you'll see Thompson take his right hand off his stick 3ft from Campagna to lower his shoulder and brace for the impact and then thrusts his shoulder up through Campagna's face. Had both players gone down, I might have agreed that it was just a collision. However, Thompson kept his feet because he knew it was coming, braced himself, and took a cheap shot to the head on a defenseless player.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, this was not the only cheap shot from Idaho. The officiating the last two games was pathetic to say the least. So many non-calls and I don't buy the non-calls from the officiating crew just because it is "playoff hockey." Rules are there for a reason (player safety and fairness) regardless of what time of year it is. Idaho knows they can get away with cheap shots so they take them. They also know that if we try to settle the score we will get the penalty. I guess the T-shirts with "Allen against everybody" should add a line "and the refs."
ReplyDeleteIt seemed like we reverted back to some old bad habits. Even though we had 42 shots on goal, I can count on one hand how many were made with someone in front of the goalie. He is too good a goalie to not get someone in front of him. We had way too many turnovers.
For two nights in a row one of their players skated right through 4 of our players and got goals. None of our players even tried to take their player off the puck. Very, very disappointing.
Kind of reminded you of a "no-check" League? Don't get me wrong, there were a couple of good checks, but that last Fish goal was just painful to watch. 4 guys and not one of them put French on his arse!
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