Another third period nightmare turned a 3-1 lead into a 5-3 defeat for the Allen Americans before a disappointed crowd of 3915 at the Allen Event Center (AEC). The Americans are 59 games into a 72 game season and there is no other conclusion you can draw other than the 2018-19 team is not good defensively, as a matter of fact it is the worst defensive team in the history of the franchise. Here are a few facts to back that up:
- Allen has already allowed 218 goals and at their current pace will allow 266 goals by the end of the season. The Americans goals allowed since joining the ECHL:
232 - 2017-18
203 - 2016-17
204 - 2015-16
203 - 2014-15
- Allen has given up 77 third period goals which is 11 more than any other team in the the league. Idaho leads the ECHL having allowed only 38 third period goals.
- Allen has scored 58 third period goals to make their third period goal differential -19 which is also the worst in the ECHL.
- Tulsa out shot Allen 42-37 last night. It was the 10th time in the 10 games between these teams this season that Tulsa has out shot the Americans. The Oilers shot advantage over the 10 games now stands at 126 shots (393 - 267). The math is pretty easy, Tulsa averages 39.3 shots per game while Allen averages 26.7. When you take an average of 13 more shots per game it is easy to see why Tulsa's record against Allen is now 8-2-0-0.
- It wasn't all bad for Allen last night. Their 37 shots were the most against Tulsa all season, the previous high was 32 shots. Allen scored first, had a 2-0 first period lead, a 3-1 second period lead and were perfect on the penalty kill (0-4).
- Disaster hit Allen from the 3:07 to 9:54 mark of the third period. In just under seven minutes (6:54) Tulsa scored four times. To add insult to injury Tulsa's fifth goal was scored shorthanded. It was the first shorthanded goal Allen has allowed at home all season.
- Here is the game recap issued by the Tulsa Oilers: https://tulsaoilers.com/four-goal-third-period-caps-oilers-comeback-win-in-allen/
- Goal scorers for Allen were Zach Pochiro (30), Stepan Falkovsky (1) and Spencer Asuchak (17). Here are the Sporfie highlights of the three goals.
Pochiro - Braylon Shmyr takes the puck away from the Tulsa defenseman behind the net and sets up Pochiro in the slot. Zach puts home his 30th goal of the season. He is just the sixth player in team history to score 30 goals in a season.
Falkovsky - Stepan scored his first goal in Allen, picking up his own rebound and putting it in the net. Watch Mitch Maloney on this replay as the dives to get a shot on goal and loses his stick. As he tries to grab his stick and get up Maloney takes Falkovsky's first shot right in the back.
Asuchak - Spencer makes a great tip in off a pass from Curt Gogol. This goal was scored with just 34 seconds left in the third period and gave the Americans a 3-1 lead. It looked like it was going to be a good night for Allen at this point. This was Ashchak's 93rd goal in his career in Allen. He is tied with Gary Steffes for fourth all-time in goals.
- Here is a video highlight package with all of the goals and some great saves:
STEVE MARTINSON'S POST GAME COMMENTS
"You think you start to turn the corner and then you have that sh** in the third period."
"On their first goal we turned the puck over three times and multiple players were weak on that goal. We left a guy all alone in front of the net. Our center is chasing a guy behind the net that can't score. We had three guys below the goal line."
"Yesterday I went over 20 clips from a game that we won in a shootout. Clips of odd man rushes or guys in front of our net all alone. These 20 clips weren't turnovers or goals against. It is March and we shouldn't be making these mistakes."
"Our go to guys just have to have to be better. We are making way too many turnovers. I feel bad for Motte. He is always a pro and wants to win. He wants to win more than some of the other guys, I can tell you that for sure. Some of our players want to score more than they want to win."
"Lukas Hafner will start one of the next two games but I haven't decided yet which one."
ALLEN VS TULSA REMATCH PREVIEW
- The Americans will travel to Tulsa today so will spend four hours on the bus, arriving in Tulsa around 4:00 pm. The team will most likely be playing two men short tonight. Allen played with only 15 skaters last night and Curt Gogol will likely be suspended after taking a game misconduct aggressor penalty late in the third period. The league has been cracking down on those penalties where players try to fight a non willing combatant. Gogol also got a five minute fighting penalty on the play so the Americans had finish the last part of the game shorthanded.
- Allen will be playing with 14 skaters today because Chouinard and Lang are out with injuries, Gogol is expected to be suspended and two players (Breton & Bourbonnais) were loaned to AHL teams. Breton is with the Springfield Thunderbirds and played last night as they beat Hartford 5-1. Alex didn't factor in the scoring but he was credited with three shots and and was +1. Riley Bourbonnais was loaned to the Iowa Wild and was also in the lineup last night. Iowa was in Bakersfield where they snapped the Condors 17 game winning streak with a 1-0 victory. Riley had all zeros in the boxscore but the first AHL game of his career had to be exciting. Bakersfield's 17 game win streak is tied for second all time in the AHL.
- Zach Pochiro scored his 30th goal of the season and is now tied with Tulsa's Adam Pleskach for the league lead in goals.
- Allen did not take a lot of penalties (6) last night and they had plenty of shots (37) to win the game. Their biggest problem was too many turnovers and they were just outworked in the third period. Allen did a great job of getting off to a good start last night even though Tulsa came back to win the game. It will be even more critical tonight for the Americans to get off to a good start. The Oilers are almost impossible to beat at home playing with a lead. Their home record with a first period lead is 8-0-1-2 and with a second period lead they are 12-0-1-1.
- The referee schedule for the game is Stan Szczurek (#15). The linesmen will be Chris Provost (#50) and Addison Brush (#80).
OTHER COMMENTS
- Idaho won last night and with the Allen loss the Americans have been mathematically eliminated from catching the Steelheads in the standings. If Tulsa earns one point tonight they will mathematically eliminate Allen from catching them in the standings. Mathematical elimination has only just begun for the Americans!
- Utah lost at home last night 4-3 to the Maine Mariners in a shootout. Utah has now lost seven straight games but still has the second best winning percentage (.613) in the Mountain Division.
- Rapid City is already in Allen waiting to play the Americans Sunday afternoon. The Rush lost to Wichita on Thursday and don't play again until Sunday. Meanwhile Allen will play three games in 48 hours.
- Mountain Division teams have been taking turns beating each other and have also been losing when playing teams outside the division. All seven teams have been playing okay but not great. Here are the records over the last 10 games;
6-4-0-0 - Tulsa
5-4-1-1 - Idaho
5-4-1-1 - Kansas City
5-4-1-1 - Rapid City
5-4-1-1 - Allen
3-5-0-2 - Utah
3-6-1-0 - Wichita
DID YOU KNOW: Zach Pochiro scored his 30th goal of the season last night and at his current pace should hit 35-37 goals by the end of the season and may end up third all-time. Here is a list of players who have scored 30+ goals in a season with their plus/minus for that season in parentheses:
44 goals - Gary Steffes 2014-15 (+31)
41 goals - Chad Costello 2014-15 (+43)
35 goals - Greger Hanson 2016-17 (+18)
34 goals - Bruce Graham 2010-11 (+5)
34 goals - Nino Musitelli 2010-11 (+9)
33 goals - Chad Costello 2016-17 (+24)
33 goals - Colton Yellow Horn 2010-11 (+13)
31 goals - Bruce Graham 2009-10 (+23)
30 goals - Zach Pochiro 2018-19 (-14)
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