- You don't win many hockey games giving up over 40 shots but that has been the case in Allen's last two victories. Last night the Americans were outshot in every period for a total of 43-23 and came away with a 2-0 shutout win. In their last win which was all the way back on October 27 in Rapid City the Americans were outshot 51-34 but won the game 6-5 in overtime.
- Giving up 40 shots per game is definitely not the recipe for long term success but sometimes your goalie can steal a win and that is what happened last night. Doesn't make any difference how it happened, the losing streak is over and the Americans are now on a winning streak.
- After a scoreless first period in which Allen was outshot 15-8 the Americans got on the board early in the second period when Adam Miller scored his first goal of the season. Assists went to Mike Gunn and C.J. Motte. That was the end of the scoring until late in the third period (15:39) when Spencer Asuchak scored an insurance goal, his seventh goal of the season. It was a pretty three way play with David Makowski dropping a pass to Alex Ranger who passed the puck across the goal mouth to a wide open Asuchak.
- Tulsa pulled their goalie at the end of the game but never really threatened even when Allen took a delay of game penalty and the Oilers had a six-on-four advantage for the last 21 seconds of the game. At one point Spencer Asuchak won four consecutive faceoffs in Allen's defensive zone when the Oilers had an extra attacker.
- Here is a game recap from the Tulsa World which includes post game quotes from Tulsa coach Rob Murray. https://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/lackluster-play-contributes-to-oilers-first-home-defeat-of-season/article_0a0fdca7-8f10-5801-a3a8-2198f7676c42.html
STEVE MARTINSON'S POST GAME COMMENTS
I had a chance to check in with coach Martinson as the team was heading home on the bus and he shared his thoughts on the game and the weekend.
- C.J. Motte had a great weekend for us and it was good to see him get the shutout tonight. (Motte saved 79 of 82 shots in the two games against Tulsa for a save percentage of .963)
- We haven't been converting on odd man rushes so it was good to see Adam Miller score his first goal since joining the team on a two-on-one rush.
- Alex Ranger made a great play on our second goal. He faked a shot and then slid the puck to Spencer for an open net goal.
- It was good to win the game and end the losing streak but we have to get better, one way or another.
OTHER COMMENTS
- With the shutout last night Allen climbed out of the ECHL cellar in average goals allowed. Their average has fallen under four and is now at 3.81 which is ranked #26. The Americans gave up only three goals in two games against Tulsa this weekend and that is real progress. In their previous six games they never gave up less than four goals and in those six games allowed a total of 28 goals for a per game average of 4.67 goals per game.
- Allen now has a three way tie for the team lead in goals. Braylon Shmyr, Spencer Asuchak and Zach Pochiro all have seven goals. Alex Breton leads the team in assists with 11. Breton's 11 assists are second among all ECHL rookies and all ECHL defensemen.
- The Americans will now prepare for a three game road trip to Utah. They will fly to Salt Lake City on Tuesday and play the Grizzlies on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday before flying back home on Sunday. It will be a tough series for the Americans against a Utah team that has won five of their last six games and sit atop of the Mountain Division standings with a record of 9-2-3-0.
- There will be plenty of time for a series preview between Allen and Utah but one stat I noticed while scrolling through the daily report this morning is Allen has given up a total 638 shots this season. Utah's total is 391.
- If you have listened to Steve Martinson's interviews in the last week it is apparent he will be reshaping the roster by adding more toughness. It is hard to comprehend a Steve Martinson team with one fight in 15 games given how the team has started the season. Look for some toughness being added to the team sooner rather than later. Maybe something on transactions today or tomorrow.
- If you are a family with kids and have trouble keeping up with all of the promotion dates associated with the Allen Americans here is a link to a story that might help. It provides details on the promotion nights through December and a list of the future promotions. https://allen.bubblelife.com/community/allen_reporter/library/35662521/key/356927120/These_Upcoming_Allen_Americans_Games_Will_Add_Some_Extra_Cheer_to_Your_Holiday_Plans
- I came across this story about the future of hockey, a 13 year old many describe as the next Wayne Gretzky or Connor McDavid. His name is Connor Bedard and he is from North Vancouver, British Columbia and may end up in the Western Hockey League (WHL) as soon as the 2020-21 season through an "exceptional player" exemption. Here is the story: https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/meet-the-future-of-hockey-13-year-old-connor-bedard
- Here is a short video of Connor Bedard as a 10 year old:
DID YOU KNOW: C.J. Motte is no stranger to scoring. Last season while playing for the Quad City Mallards he was credited for a goal in the first period of a game against the Fort Wayne Komets. With a delayed penalty on Quad City the Komets pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. Unfortunately the Komet's captain, Jamie Schaafsma, sent the puck off the boards trying to get it to a defenseman on the point and the puck slid all the way down the ice into the empty Fort Wayne net. Since Motte was the last Quad City player to touch the puck he was credited with the goal. Here is a link to a video of the play. https://vimeo.com/246628967
As strange as the game was with C.J. Motte scoring a first period goal how is this for a trivia question. Jamie Schaafsma scored an empty net shorthanded goal with 56 seconds remaining in the game which meant Jamie scored two empty net goals, the first and last goal of the game and managed to put a puck in both team's net.
Hooray! Great job.
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