The Allen Americans won again last night, beating the Kansas City Mavericks 3-1 before a crowd of 1700 on a rare Thursday night game at the CUTX Event Center. The game wasn't decided until Spencer Asuchak scored an empty net goal with 28 seconds remaining.
- The Americans took advantage of Chad Butcher returning to the lineup after spending a couple of weeks on injured reserve. Chad led the team with two points (1G, 1A) and his goal was the game winner. He was selected the #2 star of the game, eclipsed by the #1 star, Frank Marotte who stopped 29 of 30 shots, many of them grade A opportunities. Marotte's save percentage for the game was .967, his best performance of the season.
- What went well in the game last night:
- Allen scored first, the team that scored first has won 80% (4 of 5) of the games between Allen and Kansas City this season.
- Allen had a strong third period, scoring twice while allowing no goals.
- Allen allowed just one goal, the eighth time in nine games it has allowed three or fewer goals.
- Allen's penalty kill was perfect going 0-3.
- What didn't go well in the game last night:
- Allen was outshot 30-24 after outshooting the Mavericks 40-32 on Wednesday.
- Allen was blanked on the power play (0-2) after going (0-3) on Wednesday
- Allen gave up way too many odd man rushes
- Allen had just six shots on goal in the second period and that included two power plays.
- Allen goal scorers were Zach Hall (2), Chad Butcher (4) and Spencer Asuchak (15). Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/qdQs93EIu2Q
- Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/americans-win-tight-battle/
COACH'S CORNER WITH STEVE MARTINSON
- When I caught up with coach Martinson this morning he was already at work putting together video clips of the mistakes in the game last night he will go over with the team in preparation for the game tonight. Here is what he had to say:
"It is good to get another win but we can play better for sure. We played better on Wednesday than we did last night."
"I thought we had a good start, a bad second period and then played better again in the third period."
"We gave up way too many odd man rushes, we need to clean that up tonight."
"Our defense has been the strength of the team recently. Getting Beulieu and Roy back along with the addition of Kearley has helped. Our goalie play has also been a strength recently".
"Antoine Bibeau will get the start in goal tonight. I still don't know if he will be on the trip to Kansas City next week."
"We missed Chad Butcher when he was out and it was good see him contribute last night."
GAME THREE PREVIEW
- The formula for success tonight:
- Get off to a good start again and play with the lead. This worked in the first two games of the series.
- Allen had a -6 shot differential last night after a +12 on Wednesday. If Allen can get back on the plus side tonight they will be in good shape.
- Allen has to do a better job on the power play. The Americans don't have a power play goal in the last four games against Kansas City. A power play goal will go a long way to sweeping the three games this week.
- Antoine Bibeau has been Allen's best goalie this season with a GAA of 2.74 and a .926 save percentage. His record is 7-2-1-0. In the games he hasn't been in goal Allen's record 12-12-4-1. Bibeau is only in Allen for a few games so take advantage of his talent.
- Finally, keep up the good defensive. Be aggressive on offense but don't cheat to score. Keep in mind it is more important to win than to score.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Allen's wins the last two nights has put some distance between the Americans and the Mavericks in points percentage (.524 vs .489). Rapid City lost yesterday so Allen has closed the gap to the final playoff spot (.524 vs 543). Rapid City plays at home tonight against Wichita.
- Chad Costello was held off the scoreboard last night but is still atop the ECHL with 49 points, three more than second place. His next point will be his 400th playing for Allen. Here are the all-time top five in points with games played in parenthesis:
- 399 - Chad Costello (258 games)
- 345 - Spencer Asuchak (451)
- 235 - Bruce Graham (184)
- 225 - Greger Hanson (195)
- 183 - Gary Steffes (183)
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about 2021-22 shutouts. Allen has just one this season, the 8-0 shutout in Tulsa by Hayden Lavigne. Allen's all-time record for shutouts in a single season is held by Riley Gill who had seven shutouts in 2016-17.
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