Third Period Costs Allen Again, Game Recap, Steve Martinson's Comments, Scoring Woes, Special Teams Historical Stats, A Day in the Life, Auction Items and More

A sparse crowd of 1140 in Wheeling last night watched the Nailers beat the Allen Americans 3-1. The game followed an all too familiar pattern. The Americans gave up the first goal of the game which they have done in 19 of their 27 games this season. Their record when allowing the first goal is 2-16-0-1. Allen trailed 1-0 after the first period, their record when trailing after the first period on the road is 0-5-0-1.


- As usual the Americans were out shot (36-27), had too many defensive breakdowns, took more penalties and lost the special teams battle. It is a pattern that Allen keeps repeating over and over again and the results are the same. The Americans have now lost four straight games, five of their last six, nine of their last 11 and 17 of their last 20 games. As the saying goes you can't keep doing the same thing and hope for a different outcome.


- To their credit the Americans came back from a 1-0 deficit after the first period to tie the score 1-1 in the second period on Zach Pochiro's 11th goal of the season. As has happened so many times this season the third period cost Allen the game. Two Wheeling goals in just over two minutes early in the period put an end to Allen's hope for a victory. The game winner came on a power play and the final goal was scored when the teams were playing four on four. Allen has been outscored in the third period 38-27 this season, the most goals allowed in the third period by any team in the league.
 


-  Here is the game recap issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/americans-fall-to-nailers-3-1/


- Here is the game recap issued by the Wheeling Nailers: https://www.wheelingnailers.com/en/news/nailers-punish-americans-in-the-third


- Here are the post game comments I got from coach Martinson:

"The Wheeling game winning goal came on the power play after a goalie interference call where I thought the goalie was barely touched."

"On the game winning goal we made a bad play on the draw that allowed them to come in and hammer the puck."

"We have to be better defensively. We're not scoring enough to give up three or four goals per game." 


- The Americans now head to Reading for three games in less than 48 hours starting on Friday night 6:00 pm CST. It won't be easy to get back in the win column. The Americans have the deadly combination of not being able to score, having the 26th worst average goals scored per game at 2.48 and they can't stop their opponent from scoring ranking dead last allowing an average of 3.93 goals per game. In my opinion the games in Reading will be more about will and want than skill. Losing breeds negativity and negativity leads to losing. If the Americans are going to have a better outcome they need to re-frame all of the negativity and outwork the Royals.



OTHER COMMENTS


- Since October 28 Allen has played 20 games with a record of 3-16-0-1. In 17 of the 20 games the Americans have scored three or fewer goals. They managed to scored four goals three times but lost two of the three games. Here is a breakdown of goals scored in the last 20 games.

4 goals:   3 times
3 goals:   6 times
2 goals:   4 times
1 goal:    3 times
0 goals:   3 times

You add it all up and the Americans have scored 41 goals in the last 20 games which is an average of 2.05 goals per game. This is not a formula for success when you consider even the best defensive team in the ECHL gives up 2.21 goals per game and Allen is far from best, allowing 3.93 goals per game.   


- This story, "A Day in the Life of a Professional Hockey Player" is a couple of weeks old. It is a good read if you haven't seen it. In the article David Makowski, Johnny McInnis and Kevin Sundher  talk about everything from travel to nutrition to injuries to what it is like playing in Allen. https://allen.bubblelife.com/community/allen_reporter/library/35662521/key/356934853/A_Day_in_the_Life_of_a_Professional_Hockey_Player


- Two rookies that started the season with the Allen Americans have left pro hockey to enroll in college. This is always a concern when signing rookies from major juniors in Canada because they have earned scholarships while playing junior hockey. If players enroll in college at this time they are eligible to play with their college team immediately without sitting out. Defenseman Tate Olson and forward Jordy Stallard will both attend Acadia University which is in Nova Scotia. Here is the press release announcing their move from pro to college. http://acadiaaxemenhockey.com/2018/12/08/axemen-add-jordy-stallard-tate-olson/


- The Americans are using a new online/mobile auction company this season called LiveSource. Once you download the application all you have to do is click on the Allen Americans button to see the items up for auction. You can watch the auction without entering your credit card info, however, you will need to enter this information to bid on an item. The current auction has many items including several different types of jerseys, pucks, photos, sweatshirts, toddler items, Ice Angel calendars and more. A few of the jerseys have bids as low as $45 and many of the items have reasonable prices. Here is the link:   http://www.livesourceapp.com/


- The race for the top spot in Mountain Division has tightened up recently with teams at the top like Tulsa losing and teams on the bottom like Wichita winning. Tulsa has lost six straight games while Wichita has won five straight. Three points now separate first place Utah and fifth place Rapid City. With their five game win streak Wichita is still in sixth place in the standings but only six points out of first place.


DID YOU KNOW:  How bad is Allen on special teams this year? The penalty kill (81.4%) is similar to last season (81.6%). The power play percentage is lower, 13.1% vs 17.1%. Allen is on pace to have the worst power play percentage in teams history and the worst penalty kill percentage in team history. Here are the numbers:

POWER PLAY %
2018-19:     13.1%  (after 27 games)
2017-18:     17.1%
2016-17:     24.4%
2015-16:     21.1%
2014-15:     21.9%
2013-14:     20.7%
2012-13:     20.5%
2011-12:     18.9%
2010-11:     23.9%
2009-10:     16.9%

PENALTY KILL %
2018-19:     81.4%   (after 27 games)
2017-18:     81.6%
2016-17:     84.4%
2015-16:     86.4%
2014-15:     87.5%
2013-14:     82.1%
2012-13:     85.7%
2011-12:     83.5%
2010-11:     82.8%
2009-10:     83.4%