The Allen hot streak continued last night with a 6-3 win over the Tulsa Oilers before a crowd of 3259 at the CUTX Event Center. It was the Americans fifth straight win and eighth in the last nine games.
- The final score is not indicative of the closeness of the game. Tulsa outshot the Americans 48-24 but ran into a hot goaltender in Antoine Bibeau who improved his record to 6-0 with a GAA of 2.61 and save percentage of .929.
- Allen got off to a great start with Spencer Asuchak scoring the first goal of the game on a breakaway at the 3:01 mark of the first period. Tulsa tied the score late in the period as the Americans gave up yet another shorthanded goal, the 11th of the season.
- Allen took a two goal lead (3-1) in the first half of the second period on goals by Chad Costello and Branden Troock (power play) but allowed Tulsa to tie the game 3-3 with two power play goals, the second coming with 31 seconds remaining in the period.
- Allen owned the third period when it comes to scoring but it wasn't easy. Over the last four games the Americans have outscored their opponent 11-0 in the third period. Last night it was a 3-0 third period on goals by Chad Costello (even strength), Jack Combs (power play) and Chad Costello (empty net). Allen scored three goals on five third period shots while goalie Antoine Bibeau was saving all 19 Tulsa shots.
- The current Allen win steak has been led by the veterans on the team and that was clearly the case last night. Goals scorers were Spencer Asuchak (9), Chad Costello (11,12,13), Branden Troock (9) and Jack Combs (8). Combs and Chad Butcher had three assists. Here are the video highlight: youtu.be/9GCHlYCUDuQ
- Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/game-recap-americans-beat-tulsa-6-3/
- Chad Costello's hat trick last night was his fourth as an Allen American. Chad had one in each of his first three season in Allen. The hat trick he had in 2016-17 was also against Tulsa.
- Antoine Bibeau will get the start in goal as the Americans will use an EBUG again tonight while Hayden Lavigne is with Manitoba in Austin to play the Texas Stars. Lavigne will return to Allen after the game tonight.
STEVE MARTINSON'S COACH'S CORNER
"We are now scoring like I expected we would. Guys are getting used to playing with each other and players that missed a lot of last season because of injuries are getting better."
"While the offense is producing like I expected we are still a work in progress defensively. We are getting better but still have some work to do."
"We scored two power play goals but gave up way too many opportunities going the other way. Tulsa got the one shorthanded goal but could have had more if not for the play of Bibeau."
"I will make some changes for tonight to the power play to avoid the shorthanded opportunities."
"Our structure was poor last night on breakouts and regroups which made it difficult for the defensemen to find the forwards."
"Antoine Bibeau is the best goalie in the league but we have to reduce the number of shots he is facing."
"Jared Bethune has been cleared to play and will be back in the lineup in Tulsa." UPDATE (12:30 pm) Jared will not be on the trip to Tulsa per coach Martinson.
OTHER COMMENTS
- The odd stat of the day is Allen's recent dominance of third period scoring while getting outshot by a wide margin. Last night the Americans were out shot 19-5 in the third period but outscored Tulsa 3-0. On New Year's Eve, Allen was outshot 16-9 in the third period by Idaho but outscored the Steelheads 3-0 and won the game 4-1. The next game on New Years day, Allen was outshot 14-4 in the third period but outscored Idaho 2-0 and won the game 3-2. The totals for three games, Allen outshot 49-18 in the third period while outscoring the opponents 8-0 for three wins.
- Chad Butcher returned to Allen five games ago and has been the Americans leading scorer. The Americans are 5-0 since Chad returned and he has at least one point in all five games. In total he has 11 points (2G, 9A).
- Steve Martinson always says to play your best the best players have to play the best. These stats prove that point. Here is what the top players have contributed during Allen's five game win streak. Plus/minus is in parenthesis:
11 points (2G, 9A) - Chad Butcher (+7)
10 points (2G, 8A) - Jack Combs (+9)
8 points (4G, 4A) - Chad Costello (+5)
8 points (6G, 2A) - Branden Troock (+4)
6 points (1G, 5A) - Eric Roy (+4)
5 points (3G, 2A) - Spencer Asuchak (+5)
- With more and more games being postponed it is almost certain they won't all get rescheduled and the standings will be based on points percentage rather than points. Here are the current Mountain Division standings:
.641 - Utah
.583 - Idaho
.580 - Allen
.537 - Tulsa
.516 - Rapid City
.500 - Kansas City
.400 - Wichita
- Allen's .580 points percentage ranks #11 in the ECHL. With a win tonight the Americans will improve to .596 and will be in the top 10.
- The Allen Americans honored coach Steve Martinson last night with a plaque commemorating his 1100th victory which he earned last Sunday. Not to bring up old wounds but a couple of things hit me yesterday. First, I watched an interview with the Tulsa broadcaster talking about all of the great things that have happened since the new ownership has taken over. One of his comments was coach Rob Murray was given a contract extension and will be with Tulsa for the next five years. Later in the day I saw an email launching the Americans season ticket renewal campaign which runs through February 1. Then the 1100th honor for Martinson last night. Once again the team is asking fans to renew their season tickets and Steve Martinson is on a one year contract that expires on July 1. You put it all together and it just doesn't seem right given what Martinson has done for the Allen franchise.
- Winning championships should not be the standard for a successful coach even though Steve Martinson has won four in Allen. In my opinion the standard should be having a team good enough to win a championship. Rob Murray (Tulsa) and Brad Ralph (Florida) both have five year deals and are outstanding coaches. Ralph has been the coach in Florida for six years and never won a championship. Murray is in his fifth season in Tulsa and has never won a championship, however he did win the Kelly Cup in 2013-14 when he coached the Alaska Aces. The strength of affiliations and injuries play a big part in playoff success. I have said it before and will likely say it again, Steve Martinson has earned a long term contract.
1. Forget who the coach is or isn't, it is way too early to ask for tickets to be renewed.
ReplyDelete2. This season attendance is around 3,000 (Normally around 4,000). It is not the coach. It is not the team. It is the ticket prices, cost of food (which is sub-par at best) and poor marketing. With the county population in excess of 1,000,000, the arena should be filled every single game.
Congrats on 1100.
ReplyDeleteOutshot 48-24 and win, wow.
Is attendance actual people at the game or tickets sold. I have been to games with my son and we have counted people in sections and the official number announced is way over the people we counted.
Kevin, the official attendance is the number of tickets that are out (sold and/or comped). The number actually in attendance is always lower.
DeleteThanks, that makes sense.
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