Two Blogs for the Price of One, The Force Was With Allen on Star Wars Night in Wichita, Game Recap, Video Highlights and More

Want to start out today saying sorry for no blog post yesterday as a few of you look forward to the blog each day and that is always my intention. We have high school friends visiting from Minnesota and we ended up at an Urgent Care place yesterday morning. My hunting buddy of over 60 years had an eye issue and I was never able to get back in time to finish the blog. After being prescribed some pills, eye drops, and nasal spray he is on the mend and we are actually headed to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, Texas today. No blog yesterday and blog posted early today, go figure!

In case there are any nuggets in the Tulsa recap from Thursday and to avoid deleting what I wrote yesterday morning, you get two game recaps for the price of one this morning.

 

ALLEN'S 5-2 LOSS TO TULSA (THURSDAY)

It was another loss to the Tulsa Oilers Thursday night for the Allen Americans. This time it was a 5-2 loss at home before a small crowd of 1730. Since the Americans beat Tulsa 8-0 back on January 16 they have lost five of six games to the Oilers. 

 

- Here are some of the keys to the game and stats that helped spell defeat:

• Allen allowed the first goal of the game. The team scoring first has won eight of the ten games between Allen and Tulsa this season.
• Allen was outshot in every period including 16-7 in the second period when Tulsa took a 3-0 lead. Total shots were Allen 24, Tulsa 39.
• Allen trailed 3-0 after the second period. The Americans record when trailing after the second period is now 3-20-3-0.
• Allen scored just two goals. It was the 21st time this season the Americans have scored two or fewer goals. That is 38% of their games scoring two or fewer goals. Allen's record in those 21 games is 1-17-2-1.
  

 

- After a scoreless first period the Oilers scored three unanswered goals in less than four minutes (8:07 to 11:57). The game was essentially over at that point. As they have done many times this season the Americans attempted a comeback, scoring twice early in the third period to cut the score to 3-2 before Tulsa pulled away to the final score of 5-2. The final blow was an empty net goal with 41 seconds remaining in which former Allen player, Jackson Leef, earned an assist. Leef led all players with four points in the game (1G, 3A).

- Allen's two goals came from Spencer Asuchak on the power play at 49 seconds of the third period. It was Asuchak's 20th goal of the season. Josh Winquist scored Allen's second goal. It was his fourth goal since joining the Americans nine games ago. Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/ihseMFm7QKI

 

- Game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/oilers-spoil-americans-plans/

 

- Game recap from the Tulsa Oilers: https://tulsaoilers.com/oilers-win-crucial-game-against-americans/

 

- Allen has struggled against Tulsa which has really hurt since the Oilers are the team Allen is battling for a playoff spot. The Americans have excelled against Idaho. Here is Allen's head to head record when playing the teams in the Mountain Division (in standings order):

• 0-3-2-0: Utah
• 2-3-0-0: Rapid City
• 6-1-1-0: Idaho
• 3-5-2-0: Tulsa
• 4-3-1-0: Kansas City
• 7-6-0-0: Wichita

 

- Allen is quickly running out of time to string some wins together. The Americans longest winning streak of the season (five games) came to an end on January 7. Allen was four games above .500. Since that time the Americans have stayed right around the .500 mark, most of the time one or two games above. With the loss last night the Americans are once again one game above .500. The Americans have just one winning streak longer than three games all season. They will have to do better than that over the final 16 games of the season.

 

- What is working in Allen's favor is all the teams in the Mountain Division, with the exception of the top two, are struggling. Here are the points earned over the last 10 games (in standings order):

• 12 points: Utah
• 14 points: Rapid City
• 4 points: Idaho
• 10 points: Tulsa
• 9 points: Allen
• 11 points: Kansas City
• 9 points: Wichita

 

 

ALLEN WINS 8-5 IN WICHITA (FRIDAY NIGHT)

 

 

It was Star Wars night in Wichita last night but the "Force" was with the Allen Americans as they beat the Thunder 8-5 before a huge crowd of 9041 at INTRUST Bank Arena. It was clearly an unusual game in many respects:

• Allen scored first 76 seconds after puck drop
• Allen scored three times in the first 212 seconds of the game and chased the starting Wichita goalie.
• Allen scored on its first two power play goals and were 2-3 overall.
• Wichita did not have a power play opportunity in the game.
• Allen scored the first three goals in the first and second period.
• Allen had leads of 3-0, 4-1 and 6-1.
• Allen and Wichita combined for nine goals in the second period and none in the third period.
• Allen and Wichita combined for 24 penalty minutes, with 22 of them in the second period. The first period had no penalties and the third period had a single minor penalty.
• Allen scored on its first, fourth and sixth shots of the game.
• Allen score eight goals on 30 shots, a 27% shooting average.
• Allen won 8-5 despite being outshot 34-30 in the game.
• Allen matched its highest goal production of the season. What was unusual last night was the Americans scored eight goals in the first 35 minutes of the game and were shutout the final 25 minutes of the game.
  

- Branden Troock got the party started at the 1:16 mark of the first period. Chad Costello (2:55) and Chad Butcher (3:32) quickly followed to make the score 3-0. The game was pretty much decided at that point as the Americans never had a lead of less than two goals the rest of the game. Allen built a 7-2 lead midway through the second period. Wichita scored two goals late in the period to close the gap to 8-5, but Allen was never really threatened though the defense broke down in the last half on the second period. 

 

- After nine goals in the second period it was a surprise neither team could scored in the third period. After a combined 27 shots in the second period the teams managed just 16 in the third.

- It was another second period lead for the Americans last night. This time it was an 8-5 lead. Allen is almost unbeatable when leading after the second period, with a record of 14-0-1-1.

- The goals scorers for Allen were Branden Troock (16,17), Chad Costello (25), Chad Butcher (8), Josh Winquist (8,9), J.C. Campagna (11) and Spencer Asuchak (21). Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/sP-McHjpU8M

 

 

 - Allen Americans game recap: https://allenamericans.com/media/game-recap-americans-offense-explodes-for-eight-goals/

 

- Wichita Thunder game recap: https://www.wichitathunder.com/en/news/peters-nets-hat-trick-in-loss-to-allen

 

- The win last night was important in the tight race to make the playoffs, especially after the disappointing loss at home to Tulsa on Thursday. Here are the current Mountain Division standings:

•  .625 - Utah
  
• .586 - Rapid City
• .526 - Tulsa
• .525 - Idaho
• .518 - Allen
• .484 - Kansas City
• .475 - Wichita

 

- While Allen is idle tonight, the two teams it is chasing for a playoff spot are in action. Tulsa is at home against Toledo and Idaho is at home against Utah. As strange as it sounds but true, given how close the race is for the final playoff spot, Allen could move from fifth to third place in the standings tonight if Tulsa and Idaho both lose in regulation time. This is how the standings would look:

 

• .518 - Allen
• .517 - Tulsa
• .516 - Idaho

 

- The 8-5 win last night was just the second time all season (1st in regulation time) Allen allowed five goals and won the game. Way back on November 17 the Americans were in Rapid City and won their only shootout of the season by a score of 6-5.

 

 

- As great as the win in Wichita was last night, the rematch with the Thunder on Sunday will be critical.
In the last two months, Allen has spent just one day when it was three games above the .500 mark in points percentage. The Americans have a chance to go three games above .500 with a win on Sunday. A loss on Sunday and Allen will be back to one game above .500, with three games on the road in Toledo next week.   

 

YESTERDAY'S DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post yesterday was about the players leading the ECHL in power play points: Here were the Allen leaders:

• 19 points - Chad Costello
• 12 points - Jack Combs
• 11 points - Spencer Asuchak
• 11 points - Eric Roy
  
• 11 points - Phil Beulieu

 

The odd stat of the day. With less than 20% of the ECHL season remaining, five players are tied for the most power play points with 22:

 

*Kris Bennett - Iowa

Zach O’Brien - Newfoundland

Marcus Crawford - Kansas City

Mike Lee - Kansas City

Jesse Schultz - Cincinnati 

 

*Rookie

 

 

TODAY'S DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about road power play goals. Allen is in the middle of the pack with 21 road power play goals. FYI, nine (50%) of Allen's league leading shorthanded goals allowed (18) have come on the road.  

Road power play goals by ECHL teams range from a high of 28 to a low of 13.

 

MOST

28 - Newfoundland

28 - Wheeling

28 - Kansas City

27 - Iowa

 

FEWEST

13 - Norfolk

15 - Kalamazoo

15 - Toledo

16 - Cincinnati