The Allen Americans beat the Rapid City Rush last night 4-2 before a crowd of 3182 mostly unmasked, not socially distanced fans at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. It didn't look good for the Americans when they gave up the first goal just 34 seconds into the game and fell behind 2-0 at the 7:24 mark. To their credit Allen didn't allow another goal and scored four unanswered goals of their own for the win. The game wasn't decided until there were 59 seconds left in the game when Josh Lammon scored a shorthanded, empty net goal. It was Lammon's second straight game scoring a shorthanded goal.
- The game was more typical of these teams in regards to penalties. There were only 10 penalties but four of them were fighting majors.
- The goal scorers for Allen were Corey Mackin (4&5), Connor Bleackley (1) and Josh Lammon (2). Matt Register assisted on one of Mackin's goals and Bleackley's goal and is now tied for the ECHL lead in points by defensemen with eight.
- Here are the video highlights with all of the goals and both of the fights. I have heard the highlight video I embed in the blog doesn't work for some of you. It works fine on tablets, laptops and desktops but some phones don't get the video. Here is a link to the Allen Americans YouTube Channel where you can always find the video highlights and post game interviews I embed in the blog. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4skvqPU3CGKx-vRDPCD4tA
- Highlight Video:
- Here is the game recap issued by the Rapid City Rush: https://www.rapidcityrush.com/en/news/2021/1/allen-forces-rubber-match-with-game-two-win
- When I checked in with coach Martinson this morning he was happy with the way the team responded after getting down 2-0 early but emphasized the importance of being ready to play and getting off to a better start. Allen is now 3-1 this season against the Rush but Rapid City has scored first in three of the four games. There were no injuries in the game last night that would keep anyone out of the lineup but there were a couple of incidents that may carryover. Martinson had not decided who will get the start in goal.
- Here are Martinson's post game comments:
- Special teams played a key role in the game last night with Allen scoring a power play goal and a shorthanded goal while holding Rapid City scoreless on their two power play opportunities. The Americans have now scored a power play goal in five straight games going 5-25 for a percentage of 20.0%. Over the last five games the penalty kill is 2-19 for a penalty kill percentage of 89.5%. With the two shorthanded goals against Rapid City the penalty kill unit has scored as many goals as they have allowed over the last five games. Josh Lammon scored shorthanded goals in back to back games. Here is the interview Tommy Daniels conducted with Josh after the game:
- The big focus in the rubber game of this three game series against the Rush is getting off to a better start. Time for Allen to score the first goal of the game after Rapid city has scored first the last three times these teams have played. A good start by scoring the first goal and ending the first period with a lead is a huge advantage. Last season the Americans were 26-3-1-1 when scoring first and when leading after the first period their record was 22-3-2-0.
- The referee tonight will be the same as the first two games, Casey Terreri (#14). He called four penalties for eight minutes the first game and 10 penalties for 32 minutes the second game. Overall he doesn't call a lot of penalties but if you were betting whether or not there will be 10 penalties tonight the odds would favor taking the over.
- Another full slate of six games on the ECHL schedule tonight. Here is the ECHL Today with the previews: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2021/1/echl-today-jan-9
OTHER COMMENTS
- Tyler Sheehy had his eight game assist streak snapped last night. Here is info from my ECHL stats post about long assist streaks;
- If you haven't seen Dyson Stevenson's most recent blog post from inside the bubble here is the link. Dyson talks about what it was like playing with Riley Gill: https://allenamericans.com/news/blog/bubblelife-2-catching-up-with-an-echl-legend/
- With the win last night Allen's record of 7-3-0-0 has them tied for #2 in points (14) and ranked #5 in winning/points percentage (.700). The Americans have play 10 games, only Florida with 11 games has played more. Utah has only played six games. The league has said all teams will not end up playing the same number of games this season so standings will be determined by winning/points percentage.
- Attendance at the six ECHL games last night ranged from a high of 3182 in Rapid City to a low of 1196 in Wichita. The ECHL average attendance (54 games) is now 2191.
DID YOU KNOW: Josh Lammon scoring back to back shorthanded goals gives me an excuse to bring out the video of one of four players in ECHL history that have had a shorthanded hat trick. Chad Costello accomplished the feat in 2012 playing for Colorado.
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