The threat of storms and hail reduced the crowd at the CUTX Event Center last night to 1317. The hearty few watched Allen beat the Utah Grizzlies 7-4 despite a hail storm of shots being thrown at Americans goalie Chase Perry. You know the Americans had a bad night defensively when Perry's stats for the game include a 4.00 GAA and a .922 save percentage. Utah put 51 shots on Perry, the most shots Allen has surrendered all season.
- Perry was at his best in the third period when Utah outshot Allen 17-8. Spectacular breakaway saves and back door saves over and over again saved the day for Allen. The final score of 7-4 is not indicative of the closeness of the game. Allen scored an empty net goal at 18:08 and a final goal at 18:35 to secure the victory.
- It was clearly a poor defensive effort by the Americans but the ability to win games when not playing your best is worth noting. There were other bright spots in the game in addition to the play of Perry. Here are a few of them:
- Allen scored the first goal of the game. Newly acquired defenseman Eric Williams playing his second shift scored on his first shot as an Allen American. Allen's record when scoring first is now 18-7-1-0.
- Allen led 3-1 after the first period. Allen is 16-4-0-0 with a first period lead.
- Allen led 5-3 after the second period. Allen is 20-3-1-0 with a second period lead.
- Allen was perfect on the penalty kill (0-4).
- Allen scored seven goals after being shutout in its last game. Over the last 20 games Allen's scoring average per game is 4.9.
- The most important stat from the game is the two points Allen earned for the win. The two points moved the Americans into a tie with Wichita and Utah with 59 points. If you go by points percentage Allen is actually in second place in the division because the Americans have more games in hand.
- Here are few of the not so bright spots from the game:
- Allen was outshot in every period and a total of 51-35 for the game.
- Allen was 0-3 on the power play. Prior to last night the Americans had scored a power play goal in the last six games against Utah.
- Allen allowed four goals, the fourth straight game giving up four or more goals. In the last month Allen has given up eight goals twice, six goals twice, five goals four times and four goals once. Nine out of 13 games Allen has allowed four or more goals. Not good enough for the playoffs.
- Goal scorers for Allen were Eric Williams (4), Hank Crone (37,38,39), Justin Young (1), Mikael Robidoux (8) and Liam Finlay (29). Colton Hargrove, Jack Combs and Colton Saucerman each had two assists. Here are the video highlights but only include the Allen goals: https://www.echl.com/en/video/2023/3/utah-grizzlies-vs-allen-americans---mar-16-2023-79mPg3he
- Here are the game recaps from both teams.
Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/game-recap-americans-hold-off-utah-7-4/
Utah Grizzlies: https://www.utahgrizzlies.com/en/grizzlies-news/americans-defeat-grizzlies-7-4
CHAD COSTELLO COACH'S COMMENTS
"It is important to win when you don't play your best and that was the case tonight."
"Chase Perry played unbelievable, he was the star of the game for sure."
"Team defensive breakdowns and not managing the game cost us. We should have won that game outright, but we kept letting them crawl back into the game."
"We need to clean up the team defensive mistakes for tomorrow night."
"At this time of the season two points are important no matter how you get them. The points are massively important in the standings but if we don't play better it is going to be tough. The team knows that and I look for a full 60 minute effort tomorrow night."
"It was 5-2 with less than two minutes left in the second period and we didn't manage the game. The late in the period third goal they scored was huge and gave Utah momentum. We should have gone in to the third period with a 5-2 lead.
- Newly signed LW/C Jakov Novak will arrive in Allen this afternoon. He is currently on reserve so it is unlikely he plays tonight, but you never know what could happen. Novak will wear #10 in Allen, the same number he wore at Northeastern. I expect the lineup tonight will be the same as last night.
- Allen and Utah are high penalty minute teams but have been very quiet in that department recently. On February 4 these teams combined for 150 penalty minutes. In the four head to head battles since that game the combined penalty minutes are just 72, evenly split between both team. Could the low penalty minute trend get reversed tonight?
JAKOV NOVAK PLAYER PROFILE
 |
| Jakov Novak |
- Jakov Novak is a 24 year old, 6'3" 210 pound left shot forward who just finished up his collegiate career at Northeastern University in Boston. He is about to complete his masters in management degree. His undergraduate degree from Northeastern was in finance with a minor in law.
Novak has been a center and left wing in his college career so would expect he will start out playing center for the Americans. He started his collegiate career at Bentley University and transferred to Northeastern University in 2021-22. He was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the seventh round of the 2018 NHL draft.
Scouting reports typically talk about Novak being a big body forward with a scoring touch who can also play with an edge. He has experience on the power play and can also kill penalties. He has also worn an "A" in juniors and also this past season at Northeastern.
In his last season in juniors (NAHL) Novak was the league MVP and Forward of the Year. He led the NAHL in points (73), goals (32) and plus/minus (+41).
In three seasons at Bentley, Novak scored 62 points in 87 games. His sophomore year got him noticed by the NHL. He had 30 points in 35 games (16 goals).
Here is a recent post-game press conference where you can see and hear from #10 Novak:
OTHER COMMENTS
- The ECHL trade deadline passed yesterday and by my count 11 players changes team yesterday. You add in the eight college players that signed ECHL deals the last two days and a bunch of players moving back and forth to the AHL and it equals a lot roster changes. The next couple of weeks will show the teams that have gotten stronger with all of these roster changes.
- Hank Crone had his second hat trick of the season last night. Three Allen players have hat trick this season and coincidentally the have all had two hat tricks. Crone now has 39 goals and 82 points. Hank's next goal will make him the first 40 goal scorer in the league since Michael Joly had 41 goals for Colorado in 2017-18.
- It is well known how close Hank Crone and Liam Finlay are off the ice and how connected they are on the ice. They remind many of the Chad Costello and Jack Combs duo of years past. Jack and Chad played together in Tulsa (2010-11), Colorado (2011-12 & 2012-13). Allen Americans (2014-15 & 2021-22) and in Germany (2017-18). The Crone and Finlay list is much shorter, University of Denver (2019-20) and Allen Americans (2022-23). It makes wonder if one leaves for Europe next season will they both leave and if one decides to play another season in Allen will they both stay in Allen.
- Finlay and Crone are very close on and off the ice and also on the ECHL rookie scoreboard. They are #1 and #2 in rookie goals, rookie power play assists and rookie power play points. In addition, Crone is #1 in points and Finlay is #1 in shooting percentage.
- A big night in the ECHL tonight with all 28 teams in action. Here are the previews from ECHL Today. Mountain Division matchups in addition to Utah at Allen are Tulsa at Rapid City, Wichita at Kansas City and Orlando at Idaho: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2023/3/echl-today-march-17
LOL - Eric Hoyle - great between period guest - couldn't they find a prostrate doctor to interview...? Pathetic!!!
ReplyDeleteLOL. Perfect.
ReplyDelete