Allen and Kansas City both extended streaks to four games last night but unfortunately for the Americans it is a losing streak and for the Mavericks it is a winning streak. Allen lost to Kansas City 4-1 before a small Tuesday night crowd of 2657 at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena in a game that was not as close as the final score. Spencer Asuchak scored with 11 seconds remaining in the game to spoil the Maverick's shutout.
- It was going to be a tough lift for Allen even with their best roster and they didn't have close to their best roster. Allen played shorthanded and with three players that weren't on the team a week ago and one (Adam Miller) who arrived just a fewer hours prior to the game. As a reminder the following players were missing:
Joel Chouinard - see below
Casey Pierro-Zabotel - injured
Braylon Shmyr - called up to AHL
Josh Thrower - injured
Chad Butcher - injured
Kevin Sundher - injured
Pavel Jenys - injured
- The game went pretty much as the stats and game preview predicted. Allen was out shot 35-27. As usual they did well in the first period but could not sustain the effort. Here is a synopsis:
First period - Allen outshot Kansas City 12-8 but neither team scored
Second period - Kansas City outshot Allen 16-10 and won the period 2-0
Third period - Kansas City outshot Allen 11-5 and won the period 2-1
- Special teams was another key and the Mavericks won that battle. Allen again gave up more power plays (5) than they got (3). Allen was scoreless on the power play (0-3) and gave up a shorthanded goal. The Mavericks were 1-5 on the power play.
- For the fifth time this season Allen was not able to score more than a single goal. In the two games against the Mavericks this season the Americans have managed just two goals and have been outscored 9-2. With two more games against the Mavericks this weekend in Allen, the Americans have some work to do to turn this around.
- Here is a the game recap issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/americans-fall-to-kc-4-1/
- Here is the game recap issued by the Kansas City Mavericks: https://kcmavericks.com/en/news/2018/11/postgame-snapshots-mavs-handle-americans-in-4-1-win
STEVE MARTINSON'S POST GAME COMMENTS
"We had a solid start and out shot them in the first period but we couldn't finish plays."
"We are not consistently getting in front of the goalie so the number of second chances are limited. We did have traffic in front of the net on our lone goal."
"We continue to make poor choices in the neutral zone and entering our offensive zone which results in turnovers."
OTHER COMMENTS
- To shore up the roster with so many players missing coach Steve Martinson has signed free agent forward Adam Miller. Miller is a 6'1" 201 pound left shot forward who has played overseas the last six years. He has not played this season prior to joining Allen last night. Prior to playing overseas Miller played in 206 ECHL games for the Las Vegas Wranglers and averaged 1.08 points per game (81G, 141A). Adam is from the same hometown (Livonia, MI) as Mike Gunn.
- Allen was 0-3 on the power play last night and has fallen to #22 in the league with a power play percentage of 13.5%. At home it is even worse at 5.6% (1-18). This has to get turned around if Allen is to be successful against the Mavericks this weekend. The one bright note in the sea of bad stats is the Allen penalty kill. Overall it is ranked #5 at 89.1% and the home penalty kill is ranked #2 at 92.9%.
- Allen has given up more goals (43) than any other team in the ECHL and their goal differential (-13) is the second worst in the league. During the current four game losing streak Allen has lost 2-0, 5-4, 4-1 and 4-1. The Americans are going to have to find a way to score more goals.
- South Carolina's forward Grant Besse was named the ECHL's Player of the Week yesterday based on his play in Allen last weekend (3G 3A). The season in less than one month old and the Americans are responsible for two Player of the Week selectees. Wichita's Dyson Stevenson won the award on October 23rd after scoring two goals in back to back games against Allen.
- If you are not on social media you may not have heard why Joel Chouinard missed the game in Kansas City last night. Joel and his wife Courtney were welcoming their first child, Julien, into the world. Congrats to the Chouinard family!
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| Joel and Julien Chouinard |
- There will be a complete game preview tomorrow but the two games this weekend against Kansas City at the Allen Event Center will be critical for the Americans. Allen has lost four games in a row and their home record is 0-3. After just 11 games, Allen is already five points out of a playoff spot and they have played more games than all of the teams in the playoff spots. The two games at the AEC will pit the best team in the division with a .813 winning percentage against the worst with a .318 winning percentage. Allen has to find a way to get this thing turned around.
DID YOU KNOW: How bad is this start for the Allen Americans? Only two ECHL teams have a winning percentage lower than Allen's .318. This is the worst start ever for the Americans and only 2016-17 comes close. Here is Allen's record after 11 games for each season since joining the ECHL.
2014-15: 8-3-0-0
2015-16: 8-3-0-0
2016-17: 4-7-0-0
2017-18: 5-4-2-0
2018-19: 3-7-0-1
Is Chad Butcher close to playing
ReplyDeleteWas wondering if coach might sign 3 SPHL guys for short term to fill out the roster?
ReplyDeletePerhaps it is time to call in our "favors" from the teams we did trades with and got nothing in return.
ReplyDeleteHockey is such a great sport and as much as any sport, it is a team sport. The Allen players are certainly quality players and we know that coach has a proven system, so what is missing. My observation is team is missing. Players must have the maturity and discipline to play team hockey. This maturity and discipline must come from the players.
ReplyDeleteNo excuses accepted for injuries or call-ups or ... leaders must lead. I encourage our experienced players to step it up.
Spent the last two weeks traveling to my college team’s games in Madison WI and Huntsville AL. This is a very young team with only 5 seniors so fan expectations are not real high this year. Had the opportunity to chat with coach last Saturday and asked about a highly recruited freshman who did not make the trip - coach said that he was not yet ready to play team hockey and he will stay home until he is.
I was very impressed during Saturday’s game when our Senior Captain was on the bench for several shifts. He had coachs obviously coaching him up. When he returned, it was on the third line. He was soon back on the top line and ended up as the #1 Star with 2 goals and an assist.
While the Allen Team leaders need to step it up, coaches do need to reinforce expectations.
I will be cheering for KC on Friday as they have 3 alumni on the team all of whom started on Tuesday. Good players, not yet great players but always team first with maturity and discipline.
This was on my mind.