Allen has a favorable schedule down the final stretch of 11 games, three more games than Idaho and Tulsa to improve the Americans points percentage, a home heavy (8 of 11) slate of games, mostly against teams that won't make the playoffs. The question is with these advantages, can Allen make the Mountain Division playoffs. It is definitely time to:
- Put up or shut up
- Fish or cut bait
- Win or go home
- Sh** or get off the pot
- Cook or get out of the kitchen
- Less talk, more action
- It starts tonight with a home game against Kansas City, a team with a .492 points percentage and likely out of the playoff picture. Four of Allen's next six games are against the Mavericks. The Mavericks will have to sweep the four games against Allen to have a chance and even then will need some help. You never know how teams out of the playoffs will play at this time of the season. Sometimes teams in this situation are relaxed and dedicated to playing for a job next season and sometimes players are already thinking about tee times and the summer. The most important stat to remember is Kansas City's record against Allen this season is 4-3-1-0. The Americans better be ready tonight and Friday night when the teams play in Kansas City.
- Here are some comparative stats between Allen and Kansas City:
- Points Percentage - Allen .525, Kansas City .492
- Record - Allen 28-25-7-1, Kansas City 29-30-4-1
- Last 10 Games - Allen 6-3-1-0, Kansas City 3-5-2-0
- Current Streak - Allen 0-1-1-0, Kansas City 1-0-1-0
- Ave Goals For - Allen 3.3, Kansas City 3.0
- Ave Goals Against - Allen 3.5, Kansas City 3.4
- Here are the stats from the eight head to head games against Kansas City:
- Goals - Allen leads 31-30
- Shots - Kansas City leads 276-231
- Power Play - Allen is 3-33 (9.1%), Kansas City is 6-35 (17.1%).
- PIMS - Allen 205, Kansas City 164
- If you look at overall power play stats, Allen is ranked #16 at 18.9% and Kansas City is ranked #25 at 15.5%. Allen's penalty kill is also ranked #16 at 80.2% and Kansas City is ranked #17 at 78.9%.
- Allen's penalty kill has been much improved in March. The Americans have allowed a power play goal in just three of 11 games this month and it was a single goal each time.
- Kansas City is the most penalized team in the ECHL but not the toughest. They are ranked #9 in fighting majors with 33, while Allen is ranked #6 with 36. FYI, Iowa is ranked #1 with 49 fighting majors. A lot of the Mavericks penalties come from undisciplined penalties. Kansas City leads the league in 10 minute misconduct and game misconduct penalties. Here is a comparison with Allen by category type. Kansas City is the first/ higher number:
- Minor Penalties: 389 vs 262
- 5 Minute Majors: 41 vs 39
- 10 Minute Misconducts: 22 vs 5
- Game Misconducts: 12 vs 5
- Here are some keys for tonight and all of the remaining games against Kansas City:
- Good starts, the team that has scored first has won seven of the eight games this season.
- Take more shots, the team with the most shots has won six of the eight games this season.
- Play with a lead, Allen is 15-0-1-1 with a second period lead, Kansas City is 17-1-2-0.
- Win the special teams battle, the Americans have scored more power play goals than Kansas City in just one game this season.
- It is no surprise that Allen's leading scorers against Kansas City are Costello (11 points), Asuchak (9 points) and Combs (8 points). The player to watch for Kansas City is #20 Nick Pastujov. In seven games against Allen, he has 12 points (5G, 7A). He just returned to Kansas City after spending the last month with the Rochester Americans (AHL)
COACH'S CORNER WITH STEVE MARTINSON
"The key for us is to continue to battle hard without the puck. We are improving but need to be better shift in and shift out."
"If we put as much passion into defense as we do scoring we can be a great playoff team."
"We have lost three players to season ending injuries (Gould, Jarvis, Hall). Eric Roy is out until the playoffs and Jake Kearley is still a ways away from returning. At least we have enough healthy players to field a full team."
"I plan on making some changes to the power play. We have power play goals in four of the last six games, so nothing major, just some tweaks."
"Luke Peressini will get the start in goal tonight."
"I am not sure if I will make any deals before the trade deadline tomorrow. I am always trying to improve the team and have already added players (Winquist, Campagna, Kearley, Albano). We will see what happens today and tomorrow."
OTHER COMMENTS
- It is buyers and sellers time with the ECHL trade deadline coming up tomorrow (3:00 pm EDT). Here is an example.
Kansas City traded former Allen forward, Jesse Mychan, to Toledo on Monday for forward Keeghan Howdeshell. Toledo gets a 29 year old veteran player, a proven goal scorer with toughness and Kelly Cup champion for its playoff run. Kansas City, who will not make the playoffs, gets a younger player (24) to build for next season. The risk with Mychan is he has had trouble staying healthy. In Allen last season he was leading the league in goals (15 in 24 games) before sustaining an injury that put him out for the season. This year in Kansas City he missed two months with an injury. Here are both players stats for this season:
- Jesse Mychan - 30 games, 17 points (5G, 12A), 52 PIMS, -10
- Keeghan Howdeshell - 50 games, 29 points (12G, 17A), 8 PIMS, +13
- It is a busy Wednesday night schedule in the ECHL with nine games on tap, many of them with playoff implications. In the Mountain Division, in addition to Kansas City at Allen, #1 Utah hosts #2 Rapid City and Idaho is in Florida for the first of three games against the Everblades. Here is the ECHL Today with a preview of all nine games. https://www.echl.com/en/news/2022/3/echl-today-march-30
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about teams in the NHL, AHL, and ECHL that have power play percentages above 20%. Allen's current power play percentage is 18.9%. Last season the percentage was 20.5%. Allen's best season on the power play in the ECHL was in 2016-17 when it finished at 24.4%. The power play was a huge factor in the Americans 2016 Kelly Cup championship, as they led all playoff teams at 27.2%.
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