The Tulsa Oilers are in town to take on the Allen Americans tonight and Sunday. The game tonight will be Tulsa's first since they beat the Americans 4-3 at the BOK Center on December 12. The Oilers had two games against Utah postponed last weekend because of the COVID safety protocols and haven't played a game in 14 days.
- Allen enters the two game series with Tulsa on a two game winning streak, leading the Mountain Division teams with four points and a record of 2-1-0-0. The Oilers, with a record of 1-0-0-1, are in second place with three points.
- What you can expect from Tulsa is a team that always takes a lot of shots. Tulsa is one of the best teams in the league in shots on goal. Last season they were #1 in average shots per game (36.59) and they are #1 thus far in 2020-21 averaging 38.00 shots over their first two games. The last five times Allen has played Tulsa they have been out shot. The Americans have given up 35+ shots in nine of the last 11 games against the Oilers going back to the beginning of the 2019-20 season.
- The good news for the Americans is after three games they are ranked #2 in average shots per game (36.00) just behind Tulsa. If the Americans expect to win tonight they will have to keep the shot differential close.
- Special teams will be another key to the games against Tulsa. Both teams have struggled thus far on the power play though they have had limited chances. Allen is 1-10 (10.0%) and Tulsa is 0-5 (0.0%).
- Defenseman Kayle Doetzel has re-signed with the Americans and is eligible to play tonight but it remains to be seen if he will be in the lineup. Coach Martinson has also come to terms with a top line center who is expected to be with the Americans when they travel to Rapid City for games on January 6, 8 & 9.
- Here is the game preview issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/press-release/americans-open-a-two-game-weekend-series-against-tulsa-tonight/
OTHER COMMENTS
- Some NHL training camps start as soon as Thursday with all camps starting by January 3. If NHL/AHL contracted players currently assigned to ECHL teams get recalled to attend NHL camps you should see those transactions showing up as early as today.
- There are meetings this weekend on the AHL return to play effort and a Board of Governors (BOG) meeting is scheduled midweek. There is a chance announcements on the AHL return to play procedures could be made after the BOG meeting. One big question will be the plans for teams that can't have fans in attendance or the number of fans allowed is extremely limited. How and when will AHL teams opt out of the 2020-21 season? Needless to say, how the AHL moves forward will impact the ECHL so something to keep an eye on this week.
- There are five ECHL games on tap tonight and the teams are staying close to home, playing opponents in their geographical area. Here is approximately how far the visiting teams have traveled to play tonight:
200 miles - South Carolina at Greenville
200 miles - Wichita at Kansas City
230 miles - Tulsa at Allen
300 miles - Wheeling at Indy
300 miles - Jacksonville at Florida
The short distances won't last long for Allen. In a couple of weeks the Americans will take the long 1100 mile trek to play Rapid City.
- Here is ECHL Today with a game preview of all five games being played tonight: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2020/12/echl-today-dec-26
DID YOU KNOW: In 2010-11 Chad Costello, Jack Combs and Gary Steffes were teammates on the Tulsa Oilers. Chad led the team in scoring with 84 points (34G, 50A), Jack was second with 82 points (40G, 42A). Gary was a rookie that season and had 43 points (19G, 24A). Tulsa lost to Bossier-Shreveport in the second round of the playoffs and Allen lost to Bossier-Shreveport (the eventual champions) in the third round of the playoffs.
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