The largest crowd in the ECHL last night (9392), including a bus load of Allen fans that traveled to Tulsa for the game, watched the Oilers beat the Americans 2-1. It was the second loss for Allen at the hands of the Oilers in as many nights but the games were very different.
- On Friday night Allen scored first, held leads after the first and second period, had the most shots of the season against Tulsa (37) but self destructed in the third period to lose 5-3.
- Last night Allen gave up the first goal, never had a lead in the game, were out shot 40-25 and were saved on numerous occasions by goalie Lucas Hafner who was making his first start in goal for the Americans. Allen's lone goal came on a great individual effort by Zach Pochiro.
- Tulsa scored first on a fluky shorthanded goal when the puck took an odd bounce as Hafner went behind the net to play the puck. Allen tied the score 1-1 late in the first period on a highlight reel goal by Zach Pochiro when he stole the puck, dangled around the defense and beat the goalie. There was no scoring in the second period. Tulsa scored the game winner midway through the third period just as a penalty expired.
- Here is the game recap issued by the Tulsa Oilers: https://tulsaoilers.com/oilers-edge-americans-2-1/
- Here are the video highlights from the game:
- Coach Martinson's message to me after the game was very short, "We played better but fell short, Hafner deserved better."
- Allen played the game two skaters short because because Chouinard and Lang are out with injuries, Gogol was serving a one game suspension for an aggressor game misconduct penalty on Friday, Breton is on loan to Springfield (AHL) and Bourbonnais is on loan to Iowa (AHL).
- It was a tough two games against Tulsa for the Allen power play. They were scoreless in both games going 0-8 but gave up a shorthanded goal in each game. The Americans penalty kill was a perfect 0-9 in the two games against the Oilers.
ALLEN VS RAPID CITY PREVIEW
- It won't get any easier for the Americans as they had to travel back to Allen after the game and will play their third game in less than 48 hours this afternoon (4:05 pm) when they take on the Rapid City Rush. Rapid City has been hanging around in Allen since they lost to Wichita Thursday night. It will be a tired team (Allen) against a well rested team (Rapid City) this afternoon at the Allen Event Center.
- It is hard to say a game is a must win game when you are in last place like Allen. However, the team Allen is battling to escape the cellar is Rapid City. The Rush have a six point lead and two games in hand over the Americans. Allen's hope of passing Rapid City is fading fast so they have to find a way to win the game today.
- The game today will be the sixth and final time these teams play this season. Allen's record against Rapid City is 3-2-0-0. All three Allen wins took extra time, one in overtime and two in shootouts. The teams have not met since December 5 in Allen when the Rush won 6-3.
- Special teams are bound to play a pivotal role in the game today. These are the two most penalized teams in the ECHL. Allen has 1277 penalty minutes followed by Rapid City with 1209. Here is how they compare on special teams play.
Allen - home power play (15.0%), home penalty kill (81.9%), power play against Rapid City (23.8%) and penalty kill against Rapid City (81.8%).
Rapid City - road power play (13.8%), road penalty kill (86.0%), power play against Allen (18.2%), penalty kill against Allen (76.2%).
- Allen and Rapid City both have trouble scoring goals and give up a lot of goals which is why they are ranked #25 and #27 in the league standings. Allen is #23 in average goals scored per game (2.90), Rapid City is #27 (2.36 goals per game). Allen is #25 in goals allowed (3.67) while Rapid City is #16 (3.28).
- If you look at recent trends Allen has lost their last two games but have won four of their last six. In those six games they have outscored their opponents 25-22. Rapid City has lost four of their last six games and have been outscored in those games 14-10. Over the last six games Allen has averaged 4.17 goals per game while Rapid City has averaged just 1.67 goals per game.
- The Allen team that will play Rapid City today is very different than the team that played the Rush at the end of October and again in early December. There are 16 players who played in those early games that are no longer with Allen or are out with injuries.
- Home vs road games don't make much difference for either of these teams. Rapid City has 11 home wins and 11 road wins. Allen has 10 home wins and 10 road wins.
- Zach Pochiro has a goal in five straight games and now leads the ECHL in goals (31) and power play goals (12). His five game goal streak is the longest current goal streak in the ECHL.
- The referee scheduled for the game is Jarred Mitrano (#14). The linesmen will be Aaron Schacht (#31) and Michael Miggans (#47).
OTHER COMMENTS
- Toledo beat Fort Wayne 11-0 last night. In the process they set season records for most goals (11), most points (29) and largest margin of victory (11 goals). Fort Wayne's team plus/minus for this one game was -49.
- Some familiar names in addition to Curt Gogol were handed out suspensions yesterday, Garet Hunt, Ryan Walters and Pierre-Cedric Labrie were all suspended. Labrie was suspended for five games and will miss the game when Wichita visits Allen on March 17. Rapid City coach Daniel Tetrault will not be behind the bench today as he is serving the last of his three game suspension for abuse of officials when he threw water bottles in an game on February 22.
- Alex Breton did not play last night for Springfield after playing on Friday night. Springfield plays again today in Providence. Riley Bourbonnais who is in Iowa played Friday night and last night but had all zeros on the score sheet so not sure how many shifts he got. Iowa plays again today in Ontario.
- The only other Mountain Division teams playing today in addition to Rapid City at Allen is Kansas City at Tulsa.
- With their loss last night Allen has now been mathematically eliminated from catching Tulsa, Idaho and Utah in the standings. Their magic number from being eliminated by Kansas City for fourth place and the final playoff spot is now at eight points. Any combination of eight points gained by the Mavericks or lost by the Americans will finally confirm what the stats have been saying since Thanksgiving, Allen will not make the playoffs.
- Allen still has to play Tulsa two more times (March 8 & 12) with both games at home. Tulsa's record against the Americans this season is now 9-2-0-0. Allen has been out shot in all 11 games with total shots favoring Tulsa by a big margin (443-292).
DID YOU KNOW: There were 73,384 fans that attended 12 ECHL games last night for an average of 6155 per game. The highest attendance was at the Allen vs Tulsa game where 9392 saw the Oilers beat the Americans 2-1. Here is the season long average attendance for the seven teams in the Mountain Division as reported on the ECHL website:
5601 - Tulsa
5510 - Wichita
5378 - Utah
4785 - Kansas City
4450 - Idaho
3946 - Allen
2742 - Rapid City
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