It was a critical game for the Allen on Sunday afternoon as the Americans battled for a playoff spot. In a typical hard fought game against the Wichita Thunder, the Americans came away with a 3-1 victory before a crowd of 2802 at the CUTX Event Center. It was Allen's third win over Wichita this week and the win vaulted the Americans back into a playoff spot in the Mountain Division.
- The game turned into a goalie duel with both goaltenders having outstanding games. Allen goalie Luke Peressini stopped 37 of 38 shots for a .974 save percentage. Wichita goalie, Jake Theut, stopped 42 of 44 Allen shots for a save percentage of .955. Not very often you have a .955 save percentage and lose the game.
- Wichita scored the first and only goal of the first period which put the odds squarely in the Thunder's lap. Allen had a record of 2-11-1-0 when trailing after the first period while Wichita's record with a first period lead was 13-3-3-0.
- The Americans thought they had tied the score early in the second period, but the goal was disallowed because an Allen stick had glanced off the goalie's mask. Allen finally was able to tie the score 1-1 at the 10:54 mark of the second period on the Americans 22nd shot of the game. It was the only goal of the second period. Phil Beaulieu got Allen on the scoreboard with his fifth goal of the season from the high slot.
- The third period was wide open with both teams having numerous opportunities to score only to be stymied by both goalies. The third period shot totals were 18 for Allen and 16 for Wichita. With less than three minutes left in the game, Jack Combs scored the game winner as he screened the goalie on a shot from Phil Beaulieu from the point and then put in the rebound. It was Comb's 19th goal, 55th point and fourth game winning goal of the season.
- Jackson Leppard scored an empty net goal with 33 seconds remaining to make the final score 3-1 and give Allen its sixth win in the last eight games.
- Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/-e2XnbRzPJQ
- Game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/americans-win-goaltending-battle-3-1/
- Game recap from the Wichita Thunder: https://www.wichitathunder.com/en/news/thunder-begins-road-trip-with-loss-at-allen
- Coach Martinson was pleased with the effort yesterday. He specifically mentioned that the team has cleaned up some of the turnovers they have been having. He also told me Ben Carroll will be ready to go for the trip to Toledo and Darian Skeoch may also be ready.
OTHER COMMENTS
- The Mountain Division is looking like a three way battle for two playoff spots between Allen, Tulsa and Idaho. Here is how they stand currently with games remaining in parenthesis:
- .533 - Idaho (11)
- .526 - Allen (14)
- .525 - Tulsa (12)
- The schedule this week favors Idaho as they will be at home for three games against Wichita while Allen plays three games on the road in Toledo. Tulsa plays four games this week starting today at home against Toledo. The Oilers then hit the road for three games in Utah.
- This week Allen takes a road trip to Toledo for three games. Though it is a small sample size, both the Americans and the Mountain Division have not fared well against Central Division foes. Allen is 0-2-1-0 (all against Cincinnati). The entire Mountain Division is 16-23-3-1 against the Central Division. That is a points percentage of just .419.
- Allen's record over its last 10 games (6-3-1-0) is the second best in the division. Only Rapid City (7-2-0-1) has a better record than the Americans.
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about rookie goalies. Rookie Luke Peressini has played 776 minutes, but needs to play 1140 minutes to be a qualified goalie. Luke's save percentage since joining the Allen Americans is .929. If he was qualified, he would be the #2 ranked goalie in the ECHL. Peressini's record since joining Allen is 8-4-0-0 with a 2.51 GAA.
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