Big Comeback Gets Allen a Win, Game Recap, Steve Martinson's Post Game Comments, Allen vs Wichita Rematch Preview, Playoff Picture & More

After a great 7-3 win over Wichita on Friday night it looked like Allen was going to stub their toe again in the rematch with Wichita last night. This has happened so many times this season when the Americans have not been able to win back to back games. Allen not only failed to score first but they were behind 3-0 before the game was seven minutes old. However, in a game that was reminiscent of  Allen games of old the Americans dug out of that 3-0 hole and defeated the Wichita Thunder 4-3. It was an outstanding win for a team that has not had a lot of them this season.


- It is only the second time all season Allen has won back to back games, the first being way back on October 26 and 27 in Rapid City when the Americans won in a shootout and in overtime.


- It is hard to overstate the importance of the win last night in giving renewed confidence to the Americans who have now won two games in a row, three of the last four and four of the last six games.


- Wichita scored on three of their first seven shots and a couple of them looked like soft goals. Steve Martinson took a timeout after the third goal and Curt Gogol dropped the gloves on the ensuing faceoff after the time out. It seemed like one or both of these events changed the momentum of the game. From that point C.J. Motte stopped all 21 Wichita shots and Allen was able to claw themselves back into the game.


- The Americans trailed 3-0 until late in the second period when Mitch Maloney scored his fourth goal of the season and second goal in as many nights against his old team. Allen went into the second intermission trailing 3-1. It didn't look good at that point when you consider Allen's record this season when trailing after the second period was 1-19-0-1 and Wichita's record when leading after the second period was 9-0-1-2.


- Allen came out blazing in the third period and in the first six minutes outshot the Thunder 10-1 and tied the score 3-3 on goals by Chase Lang (#3) and Alex Breton (#6). The teams went back and fourth the rest of the period until Spencer Asuchak got the game winner on the power play with 3:02 remaining in the game.


- The Americans played so well defensively after the Asuchak goal that Wichita couldn't get their goalie to the bench for an extra attacker.


- After the poor start that led to the early Thunder lead Allen outshot Wichita 36-21 and outscored them 4-0. A big key to the victory was special teams. The Americans held the best power play unit in the ECHL scoreless on five power play opportunities including two critical ones in the third period. Allen's power play was 2-5 and more importantly was 2-2 in the third period. Breton's game tying goal and Asuchak's game winning goal were both scored on the power play.


- Here is the game recap issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/americans-rally-for-4-3-win-in-wichita/  


- Here is the game recap issued by the Wichita Thunder: https://www.wichitathunder.com/news/press-release/first-period-slips-away-in-loss-to-allen.html



STEVE MARTINSON'S POST GAME COMMENTS

- I had a chance to exchange messages with coach Martinson immediately after the game last night and he said:

"That was a feel good game for sure."

"I didn't like the first 10 minutes of the game but when you comeback like we did, tonight is a game you can really build on."

"The team showed real character to comeback after getting behind 3-0 early."

- After I re-watched the game this morning I asked coach Martinson if there was anything else he could add about the game last night. I specifically asked him about the timeout he took when Wichita scored their third goal as momentum seemed to change after that timeout. Here is what he had to say,

"The time out was to say to the players we were beating ourselves. We were cheating on the back check and not getting pucks out of the zone."

"I think one big difference now is that some of the guys I picked up who were sitting out and not playing much before they arrived are in better shape now and starting to contribute."

"Guys that had been injured are skating better so we are a little quicker than we were."

"Adding a player like Curt Gogol who is versatile, skates well and is physical also makes a difference."



ALLEN VS WICHITA REMATCH PREVIEW

- The dreaded three games in three days will conclude this afternoon in Wichita with a 4:05 pm puck drop. Three games in three days is kind of a misnomer in that from the start of the game on Friday to the end of the game today will be less than 48 hours.


- It goes without saying the Americans will have to have a better start this afternoon if they expect to win. Comebacks like last night are few and far between.


- Going into this three game series Wichita had a big advantage on special teams. They led the ECHL in power play percentage (over 25%). Allen has shut down the Thunder power play completely (0-5). Allen has outscored Wichita 1-0 when killing penalties as the Americans scored a shorthanded goal Friday night. On the flip side the Allen power play has come alive as they are 3-8 (37.5%) in the two games. If Allen can continue today anywhere close to how special teams have performed this weekend it will go a long way in securing a sweep.


- Allen has a shot differential on the season of -4.52 averaging 31.83 shots per game while allowing 36.45 per game. Against Wichita, however, Allen has had the edge in shots in the last five games. In those five game the Americans have outshot the Thunder 191-163. In the two wins this weekend Allen has outshot Wichita 77-61. If that continues today it will help keep the pressure off C.J. Motte if he gets the start today. Motte has been a workhorse for Allen since returning from his call up to Iowa (AHL). He has started 10 straight games.


-  Allen vs Wichita will finally have a referee other then Stan Szczurek assigned to the game. He has been the referee for the last four games between these teams going back to the "Alex Penner" weekend. The referee scheduled this afternoon is Andrew Wilk (#24). The linesmen will be Adam Brush (#80) and Chris Provost (#50).



OTHER COMMENTS

- Over his last 12 starts C.J. Motte has faced 439 shots (36.6) per game and given up 2.83 goals per game. His save percentage over those 12 games is .923.


- Allen's record against Wichita this season is now 4-2-0-2. That means 10 of the Americans 24 points or 42% have come against the Thunder.


- Over the last 10 games Allen has a better record (5-5-0-0) than Rapid City(2-8-0-0), Kansas City (4-6-0-0) and Wichita (3-5-2-0). Wichita has lost seven straight games.


- Zach Pochiro is tied for the ECHL league in goals with 21. He is tied for sixth in the points lead with 39. Alex Breton had a goal and an assist last night and now has 26 points (6G, 20A). Breton is tied for fourth in scoring among all ECHL defensemen.


- Not that it is a milestone to celebrate but with their two victories this weekend Allen in no longer in the 200's in winning percentage. They are at .300 exactly. There is only one other team in the 300's (Atlanta at .371) so the Americans have a ways to go to catch the rest of the pack.


- The Central Division got the best of the Mountain Division last night as Fort Wayne beat Utah 5-4 at home and Cincinnati won in Kansas City 2-0. The Central Division's record against the Mountain Division now stands at 23-8-1-3. Could this be the year a Central Division team represents the Western Conference in the Kelly Cup finals?


- The top three teams in the Mountain Division (Utah, Idaho, Tulsa) continue to put distance between themselves and the rest of the pack. Here are the current Mountain Division standings based on winning percentage with games played in parentheses:

.686 - Utah (35 games)
.662 - Idaho (37 games)
.615 - Tulsa (39 games)
.556 - Kansas City (36 games) 
.487 - Wichita (39 games)
.438 - Rapid City (40 games)
.300 - Allen (40 games)


- I have been getting questions from fans wanting to know how Mike Gunn is doing after undergoing season ending shoulder surgery on Friday. Here is what Mike texted me yesterday, "Doctor said surgery went great and just as planned. I am not in any pain. Will know more Monday at my post operation appointment. I look forward to seeing everyone back at the rink soon."

Surgery is no stranger to Mike Gunn and from interviewing him in the past I know he is a fanatic about his rehab and works his butt off to recover. I am talking about a guy that has recovered from seven knee surgeries so there is little doubt he will come back as strong as ever. 


- If you are interested in owning one of the Minnesota Wild themed warmup jerseys the Americans have been wearing at home games, some of them are currently up for auction through Life Source, Allen's online auction site. They are really good looking jerseys. The auction ends Tuesday night.
   


DID YOU KNOW: I get asked about Allen making the playoffs all of the time and my advice is just worry about winning the next game and not the playoffs. With that said, it will be a difficult task for Allen to get out of last place in the Mountain Division as the Americans trail sixth place by 11 points. The next goal would be to get back to a .500 winning percentage. Allen will have to have a record of 24-8-0-0 over their final 32 games to reach that goal. Finally, to have a shot at the playoffs Allen will have to have a record of around 27-5-0-0 over the final 32 games. Just win the next game and don't pay any attention to the standings.