It is game day as the Allen Americans embark on another week of four games in five days. All four games are against the Tulsa Oilers with the teams playing in Allen tonight, in Tulsa on Friday and then back in Allen on Saturday and Sunday. This four game series will be end of the games against Tulsa this season.
- Comparing records, Allen is 34-18-2-1 with a points percentage of .645 which ranks them #3 in the Western Conference. The Americans are 6-4-0-0 in the last ten games, 4-1-0-0 in the last five games and are on a four game win streak. Tulsa's record is 25-24-6-2 with a points percentage of .509 which ranks them #6 in the Western Conference. The Oilers are 4-3-3-0 in the last 10 games, 2-2-1-0 in the last five games and are on a two game win streak.
- Head to head Allen and Tulsa have played nine times this season and the Americans record is 6-2-1-0. Allen has outscored Tulsa head to head 30-16. The Americans have five shutouts this season with three of them coming against Tulsa. In two other games Allen gave up one goal to the Oilers.
- With three of the four games in this series at home it should benefit the Americans. Allen has the best home record in the ECHL at 20-6-2-1 which computes to a point percentage of .741. They are the only team in the league with 20 home wins.
- Tulsa is one of the few teams that has a better road record (13-11-4-0) than home record (12-13-2-2). One of Tulsa's three wins against the Americans this season was at the AEC in overtime.
- Tulsa is always near the top of the list in average shots per game. In the nine head to head games against Allen the Oilers were outscored 30-16 but the shots were almost equal with the Americans having a slight edge of 293-287. The last time these teams played (April 27) Allen outshot Tulsa 33-19 on the way to a 3-2 win. It was the fewest shots Allen has allowed to Tulsa all season.
- The odd stat of the day is Allen has scored the first goal in all nine games against Tulsa this season. The Americans points percentage when they score first is .773. Tulsa's point percentage when they score first is .741. A big advantage tonight and in the series is scoring first and also having a good first period. Allen still hasn't lost in regulation with a first period lead (18-0-2-1) and Tulsa isn't far behind at 11-4-1-0 when leading after the first period. Early game success is a big key for both teams.
- Allen's power play has improved to #3 in the league at 19.6% compared to Tulsa's which is 13.6% and ranked #13 of 14 ECHL teams. The penalty kill percentages are almost identical with Allen ranked #10 (82.1%) and Tulsa ranked #9 (82.4%). Allen has scored eight shorthanded goals and allowed three. Tulsa has scored four and allowed four shorthanded goals this season.
- Another odd stat is in the nine head to head games Allen and Tulsa have the exact same power play stats, both are 6-25 (24.0%).
- If any of the four games in this series goes extra time the advantage is with Allen. Two of the nine head to head games went to overtime and each team won once. However if you look at overall season stats Allen's points percentage in extra time games is .727 which is the best in the ECHL. Allen is 4-2 in overtimes and 4-1 in shootouts. Tulsa's points percentage in extra time games in .385 with a record of 4-6 in overtimes and 1-2 in shootouts. The odds are pretty good at least one of the four games in the series will go extra time because 20% of Allen's games and 23% of Tulsa's games this season have gone extra time.
COACH'S CORNER
"It was great to see Spencer Asuchak honored as Player of the Week. With so many rookies on the roster it is important to have our veterans leading the way. Asuchak showed up in great shape this season and is the strongest guy on the team."
"Frank Marotte will get the start in goal tonight but obviously both goalies will be playing in this four game series against Tulsa."
"We are now in position of having plenty of healthy players. There will be three healthy scratches tonight."
"We have won four straight but there are some things we need to correct from the last game. The key tonight is to improve on our offensive zone puck possession."
OTHER COMMENTS
Congrats to Spencer Asuchak who was named the ECHL Player of the Week yesterday. Spencer joins three other Allen players to receive Player of the Week honors this season. Jesse Mychan (Dec. 21-17), Joe Garreffa (Dec. 28-Jan.3) and Corey Mackin (April 5-11) were the previous Allen winners. Here is the ECHL press release on Asuchak's selection. FYI, Spencer has been on a hot streak longer than a week. He has scored 10 goals in the last 12 games dating back to April 11. https://www.echl.com/en/news/2021/5/allen-asuchak-named-inglasco-echl-player-of-the-week
- There are four games on tap in the ECHL tonight. In addition to the Allen game the other Western Conference action has Rapid City at Utah. The Rush and Grizzlies are battling for the fourth and final playoff spot. Utah beat Rapid City 5-3 last night and scored four shorthanded goals (see below).
DID YOU KNOW: Utah beat Rapid City 5-3 at home last night and in the process tied two all time ECHL shorthanded goals records:
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