Allen made it a weekend sweep of the Newfoundland Growlers with a 4-2 win Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 2170 at the CUTX Event Center. The game wasn't decided until Chad Costello scored an empty net goal with 15 seconds remaining in the game.
- Allen never trailed in the game after Tyler Poulsen split two defensemen on a great individual effort and beat the goalie to give the Americans a 1-0 lead at the 11:22 mark of the first period. Newfoundland responded less than a minute later to tie the score and the teams went into the first intermission with the score 1-1.
- Allen took a 2-1 lead 78 seconds into the second period but the back a forth continued when the Growlers scored midway through the period to tie the score 2-2. Allen took the lead for good when Kris Myllari scored on the power play with less than two minutes remaining and the Americans went into the second intermission with a 3-2 lead.
- Newfoundland outshot Allen 13-6 in the third period but could not get the equalizer. Rookie goalie, Luke Peressini, who just arrived in Allen and was making his second professional start, stopped all 13 Growler shots to earn his first pro victory. Costello sealed the win, taking a pass from Jack Combs and putting the puck into the open net. It was his 44th point of the season and Chad is now one point off the ECHL lead.
- Goal scorers for Allen were Tyler Poulsen (6), Jackson Leppard (10), Kris Myllari (4), and Chad Coatello (18). Here are the video highlights with the goals and some great saves: https://youtu.be/Y7J3LT84XfE
- Allen Americans game recap: https://allenamericans.com/media/americans-sweep-growlers/
- Newfoundland Growlers game recap: https://www.nlgrowlers.com/en/2021-22recaps/recap-growlers-downed-4-2-by-americans
- Takeaways from the series with Newfoundland:
- Allen allowed five goals in three games, the fewest in a three game series all season
- First time ever three different goalies, all rookies, won games in a home weekend series.
- Allen did not allow a third period goal in any of the three games.
- Allen improved its points percentage from .485 to .527.
- Allen allowed just one power play goal but countered that with a shorthanded goal.
- Allen won Saturday and Sunday despite playing shorthanded with 14 skaters.
- I had a chance to talk to coach Martinson this morning as he was headed to the rink. He was already focused on the game on Wednesday and trying to deal with all of the injuries and what players will be ready this week. He was obviously happy with the three wins against Newfoundland, especially since Allen was the team that played shorthanded. He liked how the new goalies played and how some guys stepped up when they were given more ice time.
OTHER COMMENTS
- The odd stat of the day belongs to Kris Myllari who has scored four goals this season and all have been game winning goals. Kris leads the Americans in game winning goals and he is tied for the lead in game winning goals among all ECHL defensemen. Myllari's four game winning goals places him #2 among all ECHL players.
- Chad Costello is ranked #2 in the ECHL is scoring with 44 points (18G, 26A). It wasn't long ago Chad was 20th in ECHL scoring but he has been on quite the streak lately. Costello has at least one point in seven of the last eight games and in those seven games he has five goals and eight assists. Chad's 18 goals ranks him #4 in the league and his 26 assists is ranked #2.
- If you call three games in a week a light schedule, Allen will play two games at home and one on the road this week. Wichita is in Allen on Wednesday and Tulsa visits on Friday. On Saturday the Americans will play the Oilers in Tulsa. Allen has to take care of business when playing games in the Mountain Division if it wants to move up in the standings. It is important to take one game at a time and not look to far ahead but if the Americans get three wins this week they will be right back in the thick of things in the division, with a .562 points percentage.
- Newfoundland ended its seven game road trip through the Mountain Division with a record of 2-5-0-0 and a big COVID breakout. I am sure the Growlers will be glad to get home where they will begin a seven game homestand. The first three games of the homestand will be against Reading, who has passed Newfoundland in the North Division standings in points percentage (.636 vs .621). To make matters worse the Growlers will be playing with no fans in the stands. Here is a story about Newfoundland's trip home from Texas, the long road trip and playing with no fans at home. https://www.pressreader.com/canada/the-telegram-st-johns/20220131/281595243927269
DID YOU KNOW: After allowing just five goals in three games this weekend, Allen's team save percentage has improved to .898. Here are the ECHL's best.
When will you have updates on the injuries from this weekend
ReplyDeleteGreat sweep
ReplyDeleteThe team I saw take the ice this weekend is the team I have been waiting to see take the ice all season. We have the talent and we saw that talent rise to the occasion and sweep one of the top two teams in the league. If we can continue to play with the same intenseness, we will quickly climb up the standings.
ReplyDeleteWe scored a total of NINE goals between the three games and there were EIGHT separate players who scored one goal each. The only player who scored two goals this weekend was Jack Combs. That is a testament to the depth of talent on the team. As a team, the fore check was much improved. I witnessed our defensive efforts generate turnovers. Our defense also kept the pressure on for all three games. We stayed out of the penalty box as well, except for Friday night's game and even that game, we only spent ten minutes in the box.
Overall, this weekend's games were such an improvement on all levels, those improvements resulted in a sweep and six points! WTG Allen...I knew you had it in you to play like I saw you play this past weekend!!!