The games in hand are gone. The favorable schedule down the stretch playing out of playoff teams with points percentages below .500 has yielded a record of 2-2-1-0. What was supposed to be an easy path to the playoffs has turned into a nightmare for the Allen Americans. It was a new low last night as the Americans were embarrassed at home by the Iowa Heartlanders by a score 5-1 before a Wednesday night crowd of 5450. Unless the Americans are planning on backing into the playoffs, they must win the final two games of the season which are Friday and Saturday against Iowa.
- The Americans are no longer in control of their own destiny. Here is how the playoff picture looks starting with current standings:
- 76 points - Tulsa (2 games remaining at Rapid City)
- 75 points - Allen (2 home games remaining vs Iowa
- 75 points - Idaho (2 games remaining in Utah)
- 35 - Tulsa
- 34 - Idaho
- 31 - Allen
There are many combinations that get Allen in the playoffs but they rely on Tulsa and Idaho losing one or both of the last two games. The most simplistic way to think of this is Allen needs to earn one more point in the last two games than Idaho. If they tie in points, Allen will miss the playoffs.
- As bad as the game turned out for Allen it started out on a positive note. The Americans took an early lead, scoring on their fourth shot of the game. Branden Troock scored his 25th goal of the season (5th in the last three games) at the 4:24 mark of the first period. It was all downhill for Allen from that point. Iowa tied the score before the end of the first period and piled on four more goals in the second period to put the game out of hand.
- In one of the most important games of the season Allen had one of its fewest shots on goal. The Americans were outshot in every period for a game total of 38-17. Here are the shot totals by period:
- 15-7: 1st Period
- 12-5: 2nd Period
- 11-5: 3rd Period
- To say the least, it is disappointing to see a team as talented as the Allen Americans play so poorly. As coach Martinson has said frequently, the team is getting outworked, outplayed and playing with defensive indifference. There is no excuse for how the team has performed the last two games. Here are some stats from the two games:
- Allen trailed 5-0 after the second period in Wichita on Sunday.
- Allen trailed 5-1 after the second period last night.
- Allen was out shot in five of the six periods the last two games
- Total shots, Allen 40, Wichita and Iowa 72
- Allen was 0-6 on the power play
- Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/AaQA4tCXpBg
- Game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/big-second-period-for-iowa-leads-heartlanders-over-americans/
- Game recap from the Iowa Heartlanders: https://www.iowaheartlanders.com/en/2021-22-news/iowa-jolts-allen-with-5-unanswered-5-1
- One player that had a good game for Allen was Frank Marotte. He entered the game in relief late in the second period after Iowa took a 5-1 lead. Marotte faced 15 shots and stopped them all. He did the same thing on Sunday after Wichita took a 5-0 second period lead and stopped all eight shots he faced. Frank's total for the last two games is 48:53 minutes played with a 100% save percentage, stopping 23 of 23 shots. Luke Peressini started the last two games and his total is 68:02 minutes played stopping 39 of 49 shots for a save percentage of .796.
- The Americans have today off to lick their wounds, both literally and figuratively, before they try to rebound against Iowa on Friday and Saturday. There will likely be some lineup changes for the upcoming games.
- I had a chance to talk to coach Martinson and he was at the rink working on how to get better for the game on Friday. He was pulling video to show the team this afternoon. He talked about the shot discrepancy and all of the reasons that contribute to that from turnovers in the neutral zone and offensive zone, getting shots blocked because there is no shooting lane, missing the net and poor decision making on when and where to pass. He will again go over the numerous defensive breakdowns that occurred in the game. He still has players dealing with the virus that has hit the team and won't know until tomorrow who will be back.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Two more teams (Rapid City & Wheeling) qualified for the playoffs last night. A total of 10 teams are now qualified with six more teams earning spots this weekend. Here are the qualified teams by division with points percentage in parenthesis:
- NORTH
- Reading (.688)
- Newfoundland (.664)
- SOUTH
- Florida (.643)
- Atlanta (.643
- Jacksonville (.585)
- CENTRAL
- Toledo (.700)
- Fort Wayne (.593)
- Wheeling (.557)
- MOUNTAIN
- Utah (.593)
- Rapid City (.579)
- Tyler Sheehy: 2019-20
- Alex Breton: 2018-19
- Justin Baker: 2014-15
Reminded me of most our games against Tulsa this year. Iowa was aggressive..constantly on the attack. For whatever reason, our guys don't seem to be willing to punch back. It's now or never. Our season ends this weekend without better effort from the players.
ReplyDeleteIt might help if they would shoot and keep shooting!! Instead they pass and pass. They also skate away from the puck when opponent has the puck!! Again and again!!
ReplyDeleteWe were not prepared for Iowa. They are fast and stayed up our butts the whole game last night. It was crazy
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