It was a good news/bad news night for the Allen Americans last night in Utah. Let me count the ways:
- The bad news was Allen lost in overtime. The good news is the Americans clinched a playoff spot.
- The good news is Allen gave up just one goal in regulation. The bad news is they only scored one goal in regulation.
- The good news is Allen allowed Utah only 26 shots. The bad news is Allen had a season low 14 shots.
- The good news is Allen didn't give up a power play in regulation time. The bad news is they didn't score a power play goal and the overtime game winner was a power play goal.
- The good news is Matt Register scored Allen's only goal of the game. The bad news is after holding the puck behind the Allen net unchallenged for the last 20 seconds of the game, Matt decided to shoot the puck off the glass as time ran out and accidentally shot the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty.
- The good news is Allen scored the first goal of the game after Utah scored first the last six games against the Americans. The bad news is despite having one of the best records in the ECHL when scoring first, Allen lost the game.
- Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/game-recap/americans-clinch-playoff-spot-despite-overtime-loss/
- Here is the game recap from the Utah Grizzlies: https://www.utahgrizzlies.com/en/grizzlies-news/pare-s-overtime-game-winner-gives-utah-2-1-win
- The Allen offense has gone dormant the last two games. You are not going to win many games scoring one goal per game as Allen did on Friday and last night. The 14 shots on goal last night was the low mark for the Americans this season but also the third lowest shot total in a game in the ECHL this season.
- Special teams have also been an issue in the Utah series. Allen has the best road power play percentage in the ECHL (23.7%) but hasn't scored a power play goal in the first three games of the series with Utah (0-10). The penalty kill unit has given up a power play goal in each of the last two games.
- To look at the glass half full Allen managed to get a point last night despite having the fewest shots of the season and having a two minute penalty going into overtime. The team played great defensively and Jake Paterson was good in goal. The Americans have a chance this afternoon (2:10 pm CDT) to finish the series against Utah with a win. If Allen can find a way to win and come away with five of a possible eight points it would be a successful trip to Utah. Remember, Utah is by far the hottest team in the Western Conference having won nine of the last 10 games. The only loss was to Allen last Wednesday.
COACH'S CORNER
"We continue to have more puck possession than our opponents with a 56% to 44% advantage last night. It is what we are doing with the puck possession that is the issue. Too many decisions that end up with good scoring chances for the opponent."
"We had a lot of shots blocked last night and when shots got through their goalie was very good."
"I told the guys after the game we need to focus on getting two points on Sunday. If we can head home with five of a possible eight points it will be a successful series."
"I am not sure what goalie will start today until after the pregame skate."
"Our power play has not scored in this series because of a combination of execution issues. We will make some adjustments for today."
"The lineup will be the same today with 10 forwards and seven defensemen. With an early start and playing so many games this week some of the guys that have not played a lot will get more ice time today."
"The team will fly home tomorrow and we will not have a full team practice until Thursday morning before flying to Rapid City that evening."
OTHER COMMENTS
- Every time Matt Register scores a goal or has an assist he adds to his incredible ECHL scoring records. Since Matt started playing in the ECHL full time (2013-14) he has lapped the field in scoring. This despite the fact Matt only played three ECHL games last season because he spent almost the entire season in Iowa (AHL). Since 2013-14 Matt Register has 16 more goals (87), 164 more assists (273) and 173 more points (360) than any other defensemen in the ECHL. These stats go along with three ECHL Defenseman of the Year Awards and three Kelly Cup championship rings.
- Allen's overtime loss last night was the first time all season the Americans lost an overtime game on the road. They were the last team in the league to lose in overtime on the road. Even with the loss last night Allen has the second best record in the ECHL in games that go extra time. The Americans are 5-3 in overtimes and 4-1 in shootouts. That computes to a points percentage of .692. FYI, just six teams have an extra time points percentage above .500. The only team better than Allen is Rapid City with a points percentage of .733. Rapid City is 8-3 in overtime and 3-1 in shootouts. Incidentally, Allen will be in Rapid City for three games next weekend.
- Tulsa had the ECHL's largest crowd of the season last night as the Oilers beat Kansas City 3-2 in the battle for last place in the conference. It was Alzheimer's Awareness Night and the attendance was 5667 at the BOK Center. Nice cause, nice crowd and nice win for Tulsa.
- The top five teams in the Western Conference are all in action today and need a win to maintain their position or move up. Here are the matchups with points percentage; Allen (.631) at Utah (.577), Wichita (.662) at Fort Wayne (.636) and Indy (.582) at Rapid City (.523).
DID YOU KNOW: Coach Martinson always says even very good teams can't flip a switch when the playoffs start and play well. It is critical to play well going into the playoffs. The ECHL Stats post today talks about the two teams that are playing much better than the rest of the teams as the season winds down. If the playoffs start today you wouldn't want to play these teams.
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