A sign of a good team is one that can win when they don't play their best hockey and that was the case last night as the Allen Americans beat the Idaho Steelheads 3-2 before a crowd of 2352 at the CUTX Event Center.
The Americans gave up the first goal of the game but that is not unusual as they did that in the win over Idaho on Friday. Allen has given up the first goal of the game in six of the last seven games but went on to win six of them including last night. The team that scores first typically wins about 75% of the time but Allen has a winning record when they give up the first goal (7-6-1-0). The Americans have scored first in just nine of 23 games (40%) with a record of 4-3-2-0.
- Just like Friday night, Allen gave up an early goal (3:06) but got the equalizer later in the period (16:16) when Spencer Asuchak scored his team leading fourth power play goal. The teams took a 1-1 tie into the first intermission.
- Idaho scored the only goal of the second period though it appeared Allen had tied the score with 70 seconds remaining. A Chad Butcher goal was disallowed because of goalie interference. When I talked to Steve Martinson late last night he was still hot about the call feeling the Allen player was pushed into the crease. With the disallowed goal, Idaho took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission. Prior to last night Idaho's record when leading after the second period was 15-1-0-0 so it looked like an uphill battle for the Americans.
- The Americans had a third period similar to Friday when Allen was out shot in the third period (16-9) but outscored the Steelheads 3-0 to win the game 4-1. Last night Allen managed just four third period shots (out shot 14-4) but scored on two of the four shots. With the help of outstanding goaltending from Hayden Lavigne, who held Idaho scoreless, Allen earned a 3-2 victory.
- Allen tied the score 2-2 just 60 seconds into the third on Branden Troock's fifth goal in the last three games. It was scored on the power play and was Allen's second power play goal of the game. It has been over a month since the Americans had two power play goals in a game. Ironically the last time was November 27 in Idaho.
- Just when it looked like the game was headed to overtime Chad Butcher got revenge for his disallowed goal, scoring the game winner with 87 seconds remaining. Branden Troock got the assist.
- Goal scorers for Allen were Spencer Asuchak (8), Branden Troock (8) and Chad Butcher (1). Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/5-aMP4Jm1oE
- Game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/game-recap/americans-score-late-beat-idaho-3-2/
- Game recap from the Idaho Steelheads: https://www.idahosteelheads.com/en/articles/steelheads-sunk-in-heartbreaker-in-allen-3-2
- When I talked to coach Martinson after the game and we got thorough the disallowed goal and the eight penalties called on the Americans, he pointed out the importance of special teams in the game. Allen scored two of its three goals on the power play and the penalty kill unit was very busy killing six of seven power play opportunities. Martinson also commented on the play of Hayden Lavigne especially in the third period when Allen was out shot 14-4.
- The odd stat of the two wins over Idaho has to be the Americans being out shot in the third period by a total of 30-13 but outscoring the Steelheads 5-0. Reminds me of the championship seasons when Allen would dominate in the third period.
- Allen's point percentage has improved from .500 to .543 with the two wins over Idaho. The Americans need to get the third win of this series this afternoon (4:05) to keep this great streak going. If the Americans win they will have a .563 points percentage.
- Antoine Bibeau will get the start in goal this afternoon to try and improve on his 4-0 record. The goaltending has been outstanding against Idaho. Bibeau had a .969 save percentage Friday night and Lavigne's was .946 last night.
- The referee scheduled for this afternoon is Casey Terreri (14) who was the referee in the first to games of the series.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Just like last season it is likely all ECHL teams will not play a full 72 game schedule so the standings will be by points percentage rather than points. The Mountain Division teams have played as few as 23 games (Allen) and as many as 30 (Utah). Here are the division standings by points percentage:
.650 - Utah
.611 - Idaho
.580 - Tulsa
.543 - Allen
.500 - Rapid City
.482 - Kansas City
.414 - Wichita
Wichita's losing streak has reached 13 straight games (0-10-3-0). It is the longest ECHL winless streak since March of 2018.
- In a move that will impact the availability of NHL/AHL contracted players being assigned to ECHL teams for the playoffs, yesterday the AHL Board of Governors announced it has extended the AHL regular season by six days to April 30. This will allow AHL teams time to makeup what is already over 40 postponed games. The ECHL playoffs are scheduled to begin April 20 with playoff rosters due April 18. The fact that Allen doesn't have many contract player may prove to be an advantage. If the Allen roster stays some what stable and players play a lot together the team will only get better as the season progresses.
DID YOU KNOW: If you watched the Winter Classic in frigid Minnesota last night you saw #8 Jordie Benn playing for the Minnesota Wild. Jordie was member of the Allen Americans inaugural team in 2009-10. Jordie and Colton Yellow Horn, who is playing in Scotland, are the only players from the 2009-10 Allen team still play pro hockey. Benn and Yellow Horn are 34 years old.
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