A week ago Allen beat Wichita and goalie Stuart Skinner 7-1. Last night they were shutout by Wichita and Skinner 4-0. Such is the nature of this season for the Americans. There were two keys for the Americans in the game preview yesterday. First was to get off to a good start. Even though Allen gave up only one goal they were out shot in the first period 22-10. There have been 951 games played in the ECHL this year and the 22 shots on goal in the first period was the fourth most all season. The second key was to stay out of the penalty box. Wichita has the #1 ranked power play in the ECHL (24.5%). By the 8:49 mark of the second period Allen had given Wichita four power play opportunities and they scored on three of them and it was game over.
- Here is the game recap issued by the Wichita Thunder: https://www.wichitathunder.com/news/press-release/kalk-skinner-leads-thunder-to-win-vs-allen.html
- Here are the video highlights:
- Allen will close out the season tonight in Wichita and the question is will the team that beat the Thunder six straight games including a 7-1 win last Saturday show up or the one that lost 4-0 last night. Are the players more interested in the logistics of the post season or can they focus on finishing strong.
- Not sure if it is an incentive or if the players are even aware but Allen has to get at least one point tonight if they want to avoid being dead last in the ECHL standings. Greenville won last night, their second straight road win in Norfolk, and have tied Allen in points (56). Since Allen has fewer ROW (regular and overtime wins) a tie would go to Greenville. To avoid last place Allen needs to get at least one point tonight and hope Greenville loses in Norfolk.
- The Kelly Cup playoffs are almost set with 14 of 16 teams locked in. Here is the list. The seedings could change but not much by the end of the last game on Sunday.
North Division
1. Newfoundland
2. Adirondack
3. Manchester
4. Brampton, Reading or Maine
South Division
1. Florida
2. Orlando
3. Jacksonville
4. Atlanta or South Carolina
Central Division
1. Cincinnati
2. Toledo
3. Fort Wayne
4. Kalamazoo
Mountain Division
1. Tulsa
2. Idaho
3. Utah
4. Kansas City
- There is a full set of games (13) scheduled in the ECHL tonight with Orlando the only team idle. The best matchup has to be Atlanta vs South Carolina. They play in South Carolina tonight and in Atlanta on Sunday. Whichever team gets the most points in the two games makes the playoffs, the other goes home. Other games to watch are Kalamazoo at Tulsa and Idaho at Utah. Tulsa and Idaho are separated by a single point for the top seed in the division. Here is a link to ECHL Today with a short preview on all 13 games. https://www.echl.com/en/news/2019/4/echl-today-april-6
- With two days left in the regular season there have been 10 players reach 30 goals. This compares to 16 last season and 20 in 2016-17. It looks like a downward trend until you consider in 2015-16 only two players reached 30 goals.
- In their first three seasons in the ECHL Allen was shut out a total of five times. In the last two seasons they have been shutout a total of 13 times including a record eight times this season. The eight shutouts have been spread out with one each month with the exception of November when the Americans were shutout in back to back games in Utah. Seven of the eight shutouts took place on the road. Here is the list:
2-0 October 28 in Rapid City
4-0 November 21 in Utah
5-0 November 23 in Utah
3-0 December 29 in Utah
2-0 January 4 in Tulsa
2-0 February 8 in Kansas City
6-0 March 6 in Allen against Kansas City
4-0 April 5 in Wichita
DID YOU KNOW: Here are the number of times Allen has been shutout in each of their five ECHL seasons:
8 - 2018-19
5 - 2017-18
2 - 2016-17
2 - 2015-16
1 - 2014-15
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