Allen Wins 7-6 in Shootout, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Allen vs Brampton Preview and More

The sign of a good hockey team is one that finds a way to win when they don't play their best. That was the case last night as the Allen Americans beat Adirondack 7-6 in a shootout before 2730 disappointed fans at the Cool Insuring Arena.


- The game started out great for the Americans as they took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. Over the next two periods Allen gave up leads of 2-0, 4-2, 5-3 and 6-5. To their credit the Americans never allowed the Thunder to take the lead but time and time again Allen let Adirondack back in the game. Special teams were the biggest issue for the Americans as they had the worst penalty kill performance of the season, giving up three power play goals on four opportunities. Allen had just one power play of their own and it was a five minute major but they could not capitalize.


- Both goalies were outstanding in overtime with Allen having the edge in shots 8-4. The game wasn't decided until the fourth round of the shootout. Former Allen player/coach, Casey Pierro-Zabotel, went in the fourth round for Adirondack and missed. That brought up Alex Guptill who scored the game winner for the Americans. It was the first shootout of the season for Allen who has now had 11 of their 26 games (42%) go to extra time. The Americans have earned 19 of their 41 points (46%) in games that have gone extra time.


- Goal scorers for Allen were Gabe Gagne (14), Cole Fraser (1&2), Corey Durocher (3), Tyler Sheehy (10), and Alex Guptill (11). I have always thought the player that wins a game in a shootout should get credit for a goal but that is not the case so Guptill does not get credit in the stats for his shootout goal. It was a big night for Cole Fraser who scored his first two professional goals. Tyler Sheehy continued his hot streak with a goal and two assists. Tyler's point scoring streak is now at seven games, he has goals in five of the last seven games and in his last 11 games he has 20 points (6G, 14A), an average of 1.82 points per game.


- Here is a video highlight package of over five minutes with all of the goals and some great saves by both goalies:  https://www.echl.com/en/2019-20-highlights/10/allen-americans-vs-adirondack-thunder-dec-14-2019-pfPGYrzT


- Here is the game recap issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/americans-win-first-shootout-of-the-season/


- Here is a great game recap from the local paper (The Post-Star) with many quotes:
https://poststar.com/sports/hockey/thunder/thunder-lose---in-shootout/article_95ad037b-045d-5b75-a7b5-038e719bbb02.html


- I briefly touched base with coach Martinson after the game and he said, "We had bad defensive zone coverage and we were bad on the penalty kill. We are going to have to work on a few things." 



ALLEN VS BRAMPTON PREVIEW

- It will be a couple of travel weary teams that take the ice this afternoon (3:00 pm Allen time) for their third game in less than 48 hours. Allen's shootout victory finished at 7:35 pm last night and they then had to travel 400 miles to Brampton. Not sure when they arrived but there was some iffy weather in western New York. The team was estimating between 3:00 am - 4:00 am. for arrival in Brampton.


- Allen thought it was a tough night of travel but Brampton had it worse. Their game didn't finish until 9:50 pm and the Beast gave up two third period goals to lose to Reading 5-4. Brampton's 400+ mile trip home had to seem a lot longer than Allen's trip. The Beast barely made it home before sunrise.


- It will be all of the cliches for this game between Allen and Brampton. Survival of the fittest, will over skill and who wants it more.


- Brampton comes into the game this afternoon in third place in the North Division with an overall record of 15-10-1-0 and a home record of 10-4-1-0. After their win in Adirondack last night Allen's record is 19-4-3-0. The Americans road winning percentage of .769 (9-2-2-0) is the second best in the ECHL.


- If Allen expects to win in Brampton they have to fix the special teams. The power play was 0-4 in Adirondack including a five minute major last night. The penalty kill gave up three goals last night to one of the worst power play units in the league. A third of Adirondack's home power play goals all season were scored last night.


- Allen is struggling on special teams with road percentages of 9.8% on the power play and 82.2% on the penalty kill. Brampton's home percentages are 20.9% on the power play and 89.9% on the penalty kill.  Special teams will be a big key today.


- Both teams are almost unbeatable when scoring the first goal of the game. Scoring the first goal will be even more important today with tired teams. Allen's record when scoring first is 11-2-1-0, Brampton's is 13-2-1-0.


- Allen has a lot of players playing hurt and are shorthanded as well. Olivier Archambault sat out last night, Josh Lammon is on leave with a family medical issue and Nick Boka left the game last night after being boarded. My reporting is Allen is flying in defenseman Gregg Campbell, who is not on the trip, for the game today.


- Allen will have a fresh goalie for the game against Brampton as Zach Sawchenko will be in goal after being the backup last night.



OTHER COMMENTS

- Allen has created some separation in the Mountain Division standings. Here are the current point standings with games played in parenthesis:

41 - Allen (26)
33 - Rapid City (27)
33 - Idaho (28)
29 - Wichita (27)
27 - Utah (24)
24 - Kansas City (25)
22 - Tulsa (27)


- With his current streak of 20 points in 11 games Tyler Sheehy has moved into the top 10 in ECHL scoring. His 29 points (10G, 19A) ranks him tied for #8 in the ECHL scoring race.


- There are six games around the ECHL today. Here is a preview on each one:  https://www.echl.com/en/news/2019/12/echl-today-dec-15



DID YOU KNOW: Goalie Parker Milner of the South Carolina Stingrays has played in 12 games this season and already has five shutouts. The ECHL record for shutouts by a goaltender in a single season is eight.