- Nothing went right for the Allen Americans yesterday in the third game of their series in Utah. The final score was 5-1 and reflects the nature of the game. Utah scored first and held a 1-0 lead after the first period. Allen tied the score 1-1 early in the second period on Spencer Asuchak's fourth goal of the season but by the second intermission the Grizzlies had a 3-1 lead. Two more Utah goals in the third period made the final score 5-1. Here is a recap of all things gone wrong for Allen in the game:
Allen gave up the first goal of the game
Allen lost the first period 1-0
Allen lost the second period 2-1
Allen lost the third period 2-0
Allen was out shot 32-23
Allen was 0-3 on the power play
Allen was 1-3 (67%) on the penalty kill
- To make matters worse defenseman Nolan Kneen was injured in the game and is headed for the injured reserve list.
- Despite the poor performance yesterday it was a successful road trip with the Americans coming away with four of a possible six points. It has to be concerning to coach Martinson that the team was out shot in all three games and the total for the series favored Utah 116-73.
- Here is the game recap issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/general/americans-drop-the-final-game-in-utah/
- Here are the video highlights from the Allen Americans YouTube Channel:
- The Americans fly home this morning and will prepare to take on Tulsa four times this week, twice at home (Wednesday & Friday) and twice on the road (Saturday & Sunday). Tulsa is all of a sudden one of the hottest teams in the league having just beat Wichita four straight including three times in Wichita.
- It could be a tough week for the Allen roster with Kneen already out and other changes on the way. Flexibility has been a theme all season as Steve Martinson has had to adapt to whatever comes his way. Stability has become a foreign word.
- As good as the Allen Americans have been offensively this season averaging 3.76 goals per game to go along with one of the best team save percentages in the league (.914) they have also allowed more shots per game than all but two ECHL teams. The Americans just won two of three games in Utah but that series highlighted a need by the leadership of the team to make more of a commitment to defend, hold shots down and keep pucks to the outside. Allen has scored more goals (104) than any team in the Western Conference and has a +18 goals differential which is #2 in the conference. However, if as a team the Americans don't make more of a commitment to defend they will continue to be a .500 team which they have been since the end of January with a record of 7-7-1-0.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Despite the loss yesterday Allen didn't lose any ground to Wichita who lost their fifth straight game. Allen and Wichita are currently in a battle for the second playoff spot in the Western Conference, trailing Fort Wayne who has a point percentage of .821. The Thunder are currently in second place (.662) followed closely by Allen (.650).
- The Americans will now start making up the gap in home games played, compared to the other teams in the conference. Allen has played nine home games and 21 road games. Wichita has played 21 home games, Utah 18 home games and Tulsa 15 home games. A great opportunity for the Americans to improve their points percentage.
- Allen has had a few scrums during warmups over the years the most famous being the brawl that erupted with Wichita on New Year's Eve in 2017 at the AEC. I was recently going through the ECHL 2020-21 Rule Book and noticed a new provision that was added this season.
"The coach of the offending team whose player becomes involved in a pregame altercation and deemed to be the instigator of the altercation, will be fined one thousand dollars($1000)and automatically suspended for a minimum of two (2) games."
- The two hottest teams in the Western Conference are first place Fort Wayne who is 9-0-1-0 over the last 10 games and last place Rapid City who is 7-1-1-0 over the last 10 games and has won five straight games.
- Last season three teams (Norfolk, Wheeling, Wichita) were not involved in a shootout all season. This season is less than 50% complete an already every team has been involved in at least one shootout. The leaders for most shootouts are South Carolina with six (4-2), Florida with five (3-2) and Utah with five (0-5).
DID YOU KNOW: Average penalty minutes per game in the
ECHL this season is 12.98 ranging from 17.38 (Florida) to 10.19 (Kansas City).
As a comparison last season the ECHL average was 12.87 minutes ranging
from 16.84 (Fort Wayne) to 8.51 (Wheeling). Here is Allen's average
penalty minutes per game since joining the ECHL. Total penalty minutes
and ECHL rank are in parenthesis:
13.07 - 2020-21 (392, #6)
12.02 - 2019-20 (745, #18)
23.49 - 2018-19 (1691, #1)
19.60 - 2017-18 (1411, #1)
19.89 - 2016-17 (1432, #1)
16.51 - 2015-16 (1189, #5)*
22.83 - 2014-15 (1644, #1)*
*Won Kelly Cup
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