The Allen Americans leveraged a 47-30 shot advantage to a 5-2 win over the Rapid City Rush last night before a crowd of 4564 at the Allen Event Center. Allen's record against the Rush this season is now 4-0 with a rematch on tap tonight at 7:05.
- Even though there was no first period scoring the Americans were in control from the opening puck drop, out shooting the Rush 16-8 at the first intermission. Allen scored two goals in the first half of the second period and the game was not in doubt from that point forward. Rapid City managed to close the score to 2-1 by the end of the second period but that is as close as they could get as Allen scored three goals in the third period.
- Things got testy in the last 10 minutes of the game when 40 of the games 58 penalty minutes were assessed. It all started when a Rapid City player shot the puck into the Allen net after a whistle. The Americans took umbrage and things went down hill from that point. In the next five minutes there were four roughing penalties and four fighting major penalties. Rookie Cole Fraser was caught off guard in his fight and suffered a one punch knockdown. In the other fight Alex Guptill was the clear winner.
- Allen out shot Rapid City in all three periods and when they needed a big save goalie Zach Sawchenko was up to the task. Zach stopped 38 of 30 shots for a save percentage of .933.
- Goal scorers for Allen were Corey Durocher (4 & 5), Jared VanWormer (10) and Tyler Sheehy (11 & 12).
- Here is a detailed game recap issued by the Rapid City Rush: https://www.rapidcityrush.com/en/news/2019/allen-takes-game-one-over-the-rush-5-2
- Here is a highlight package with all of the goals, some saves and the Guptill fight:
- Here are the Allen goals from Sporfie which gives you a different view than the game highlights. I know most of you look at replays on your phone but if you can see these on a bigger screen you can better appreciate these goals.
Corey Durocher - A lot to watch on this first goal of the game. Jared VanWormer takes a shot from the outside and heads to the front of the net. Jared's shot bounces off the end boards right to Josh Brittain on the side boards who immediately puts a pass on the tape of Durocher's stick in the slot. Corey makes no mistake going high on the glove side of the goalie off the crossbar and in. A great play by all three players:
Jared VanWormer - This goal is pure VanWormer where he just out works his defender to score a goal. He literally dove toward the puck to slap it in the net. Here are two views of Jared's goal:
Tyler Sheehy - Alex Guptill makes this play by first intercepting the puck on the sideboards and then making a great backhand pass to Sheehy who is open in the slot. The red hot Sheehy makes no mistake burying the puck.
Corey Durocher - Josh Brittain didn't get a point on this goal but watch as he comes up center ice, the defenseman moves a little toward Josh. Jack Sadek makes a pass to Durocher on the wing and it looks like his speed surprised the defenseman who could not recover. A strong play by Corey beating both defensemen and sliding the puck into the net for his second goal of the game:
Tyler Sheehy - I have seen this several times this year and to me it says a lot about how unselfish this team is. Brett Pollock could have scored this empty net goal but passed the puck to Sheehy instead. Sheehy scored his second goal of the game and kept his streak of games with two or more points going, it now stand at eight games. In the last eight games Tyler has 19 points (6G, 13A) for a points per game average of 2.38, incredible!
- With Allen shorthanded up front and needing some emergency short term help who are you going to call, none other than Gary Steffes. For the third season since retiring, Gary answered the bell last night going from volunteer coach, team chaplain, mentor to player. He didn't factor in the scoring but you could feel his energy and enthusiasm. He made a big hit on his first shift and looked like he fit right in. See Martinson's comments below.
STEVE MARTINSON'S POST GAME COMMENTS
"It took us a while to start scoring and I hated it when were up 2-0 and they got that goal. These guys (Rapid City) hang around. They get out shot but the they keep working and we have seen that before so it was good to get that third goal."
"I think young Cole Fraser was not ready for that first punch in his scrap but that is how you learn. You have to learn the hard way sometimes. Remember he is only 20 years old. He is okay."
"Guptill is also okay. I worry about him throwing so many punches with the guys helmet on but he is okay."
"Brett Pollock is being loaned to San Diego (AHL) tomorrow. He will fly out in the morning and then they will fly him to Wichita for our game on Sunday against the Thunder."
"Durocher is starting to pick up his scoring. He was snake bit his first five or six games. He can really skate and now the puck is going in for him."
"With Pollock going to San Diego we have now loaned a league leading seven free agent to the AHL. It is a good opportunity for our guys."
"My big push with the team right now is we know we are going to score goals but we have to be better defensively."
"Gary Steffes is just filling in tonight and Saturday. He has a full time job and is just helping us out. For as much as he played tonight for a guy that just skates once in a while he was unbelievable. No normal person would be able to do that. Thank god Gary is such a good living guy. He was ready to go out all of the time tonight. He is just amazing but I see him working out at the gym all of the time at he works hard. He just loves coming back and playing."
"We will be okay when we head to Idaho after the Christmas break. With all of the injured players and loaned players, we will get enough guys back to have a full team in Idaho. We might need to have a defenseman play up front but I do not expect to be shorthanded."
ALLEN VS RAPID CITY REMATCH
- From Allen's perspective more of the same from last night should get the job done tonight. The Americans need to play smart when it comes to the rough stuff since they will go into the game shorthanded. They don't need any more injuries and can't afford to get a player suspended.
- The Americans didn't allow a power play goal (0-4) last night but didn't score one either (0-4). Getting the power play going would sure help.
- The Rush will be playing desperate tonight as they try to break their five game losing streak. Rapid City has lost 10 games in regulation all season but five of them have come in the last five games.
- Allen on the other hand has won six of their last seven games and keeps overcoming adversity to win games even when not playing their best. Last night was a well played game by the Americans. Hopefully they can repeat that performance tonight.
- Jake Paterson will get the start in goal and Brett Pollock will be absent. Unless something changed over night that will be the extent of the lineup changes.
- Rapid City will use an EBUG (Thomas Hodges) again tonight so they will rely on Alex Sakellaropoulos in goal.
- It is specialty jersey night (Nickelodeon) so the Americans will have to overcome the specialty jersey curse if they expect to win.
DID YOU KNOW: Tyler Sheehy has so many scoring streaks going it is hard to keep track. His streak of consecutive games with an assist was ended at eight last night. However, he scored two goals to extend his point streak which is now at 10 games. With his two goals Tyler's multiple points streak is now at eight, one game shy of the Allen record.
I looked back at Chad Costello's record for consecutive games with multiple points and found he had nine straight games with multiple points two times when he played in Allen and both were in 2016-17. Chad had multiple points in nine straight games from 12/28/16 to 1/20/17 and then had another nine game streak from 1/26/17 to 2/15/17. You add it all together and Chad had multiple points in 18 of 21 games. In those 21 games Costello had 49 points (11G 38A).
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