It is game day for the Allen Americans as they take on the Rapid City Rush in game two of a three game series. The team is playing without coach Martinson and four players who are back in Allen on COVID protocol. Unlike the Americans victory on Wednesday when they played short three players the team will have a full lineup tonight. Jack Combs with help from Chad Costello will try to improve on their fledgling managerial career which is perfect at 1-0.
- It was an emotional victory on Wednesday and well deserved given all that happened to the team but there will have to be improvement to expect a win tonight. Team defense has been an issue all season and is reflected in many ways. Allen allowed 45 shots on Wednesday and is ranked #26 allowing an average of 37.20 per game. The Americans gave up five goals on Wednesday, it was the fourth time in the last five games Allen has allowed five or more goals. Allen is ranked #26 in goals allowed giving up an average of 4.70 goals per game. Turnovers in the neutral zone have contributed to these stats. Allen was outshot on Wednesday 45-23 and much of that difference was the fact blocked shots were 28-9 in favor of Rapid City.
- Playing good team defense is a lot more about will than skill. It is hard work, takes a real commitment and leaders have to lead to get team buy in. With Antoine Bibeau in goal and Rapid City averaging just 2.80 goals per game this season, there is no reason Allen should allow more than two or three goals which will put the Americans in a position to win.
- Allen's record when it outshoots its opponent is 2-0-0-0. When the Americans get out shot their record is 1-5-2-0.
- Allen will definitely miss the offense provided by Jack Combs, Eric Roy and Branden Troock who are out of the lineup this weekend. It means a bigger role for players new to the lineup including Nolan Kneen, Gavin Gould, Tyler Poulsen and JD Dudek.
- Defenseman Ben Owen has also arrived in Rapid City ahead of the game tonight and will be available if needed.
- Special teams will be key and it was a mixed bag in the Americans win on Wednesday. The good news is Allen had two power play goals for only the second time all season. The bad news is the power play unit gave up another shorthanded goal, the seventh of the season. The penalty kill gave up a goal for the fifth straight game. If Allen can win the special teams battle tonight they will win the game.
- The Americans won on Wednesday despite giving up the first goal of the game. It was the first time all season they have won a game when allowing the first goal. Their record when giving up the first goal of the game is now 1-4-0-0. A good start tonight will be important for the Americans.
- When COVID hit the Americans Steve Martinson was able to get two players from Worcester on short notice for future considerations. Unfortunately when Martinson made the trade, Worcester was on a road trip in Canada and logistical problems prevented the players from getting to Rapid City in time for the game on Wednesday. What is impressive about acquiring Tyler Poulsen and JD Dudek is they are proven ECHL players. It may not be apparent from this season since they have played a total of three games thus far. Worcester is one of those ECHL teams that has a double affiliation so they get a lot of AHL contracted players that push players like Poulsen and Dudek out of the lineup. Tyler Poulsen has played 117 ECHL games since turning pro at the end on the 2018-19 season and has 56 points (30G, 26A). Dudek turned pro last season and has 12 points (2G, 10A) in 27 games.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Had a question about how unusual it was that Darian Skeoch was allowed to play in the game on Wednesday when he was supposed to be serving the second of his two games suspension. It is unusual for a suspension to be delayed when a team is shorthanded but not unprecedented. Last season the same thing happened when Matt Register had a suspension delayed when Allen was shorthanded. The question remains when Skeoch will have to serve the one game suspension he has left now that Allen has some additional players.
- Over the last five seasons Allen's record against Rapid City is 29-10-0-0. The record when playing in Rapid City is 13-6-0-0.
- You may have noticed a recent pattern with players going on the COVID related Commissioner's Exempt List. Kansas City placed players on the list shortly after playing Allen. Then Allen placed players on the list shortly after playing Wichita. Yesterday Wichita placed players on the list. To a layman it looks like Allen got its outbreak from Kansas City and Wichita got its breakout from Allen.
- It is a big weekend around the ECHL with 12 games on Friday and Saturday and four on Sunday with a lot of interdivision games of importance. Here is the ECHL Today with a preview of the 12 games tonight: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2021/11/echl-today-nov-19
DID YOU KNOW: Hat tricks seem to come in bunches. There have been a total of 12 hat tricks in the ECHL this season but there have been multiple hat tricks three different times. There were two hat tricks on October 22 and November 7. However, the biggest night for goal scoring was November 12 when there were three hat tricks including Maine's Lewis Zerter-Gossage who tallied five goals.
Roy is out again!!! Let me guess hangnail 😅
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