Let's start this morning with the positives. There was a big home opener crowd of 5482 at the CUTX Event Center last might to watch the Allen Americans get off to another great start. Colton Hargrove, playing his first game of the season, scored on his first shot of the season, just 107 seconds after the opening puck drop. In the second period the Americans scored twice in 70 seconds (Brandon Puricelli at 11:33 & Colton Hargrove at 12:43) to take a 3-1 lead. That was extent of the positives as Atlanta scored five consecutive goals to erase Allen's lead and win the game 6-3. The game was tied 3-3 after the second period. Despite being outshot 39-17 over the first two periods the Americans were still in the game.
- Atlanta took its first lead of the game (4-3) 95 seconds into the third period. Allen had plenty of opportunity to tie the score and/or retake the lead. The Americans were on the power play from 2:55 to 7:27 of the third period including two 5-on-3 opportunities of 32 seconds and 56 seconds but couldn't convert. Atlanta scored two late goals (one an empty net) to make the final score 6-3.
- Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2023/10/atlanta-spoils-americans-home-opener
- Here are the video highlights from the game:
- Going through the stats after three games gives you a good idea why the Americans are struggling to avoid last place in the division:
- Allen has scored first in all three games but lost two of them, the worst scoring first points percentage (.333) in the league.
- Allen's defense has good starts but bad finishes. The Americans have allowed two first period goals, six second period goals and eight third period goals.
- Allen's offensive production is good ranked #6 at 4.33 goals per game, but the defense is ranked #28 allowing 5.33 goals per game. No other ECHL team is allowing more than 4.75 goals per game.
- This stat is so telling it should have a separate heading because it captures the problems in a nutshell for the Americans. Allen is dead last, in shots per game averaging 24.00. The top teams average over 40 shots per game. Allen is also dead last in shots allowed per game giving up an average of 43.33 shots per game. The top six teams in the league give up fewer than 28 shots per game. Allen's record is 1-2, but remember in the lone win the Americans were outshot 45-19 and goalie Leevi Meriläinen stole the game.
- Special teams have been a strength for the Americans but they lost the battle last night. The power play went 0-3 to see the overall power play percentage drop to 16.7% (2-12). The penalty kill gave up one goal (1-3) to see the penalty kill percentage drop to 86.7% (2-15) which is still ranked #8 in the ECHL.
COACHES COMMENTS
- Coach Costello and Gens met with the season ticket holders after the game. This is what they had to say.
- "Obviously it was not the start we wanted, especially with a good crowd at home.".....Costello
- "We have a lot to improve on and we will get better, I promise you that. It is one step at a time. We will start on the defensive side of the puck. Sometimes I feel sorry for our goalie with the chances we give up.".....Costello
- "We have had some bad luck with the AHL guys so far, but hopefully that will get better.".....Costello
- "A lot of our issues are chemistry early in the year. I didn't like our power play as we were over passing which is typical early in the year.".....Costello
- "Usually at the beginning of the year everyone is going north looking for points. We have to make sure to protect our own end, starting with what we do in the offensive zone, keeping a forward high, making sure we are not jumping in the neutral zone looking for offense that is not there.".....Gens
- In the defensive zone we need to bear down defensively first and look for our offensive chances later on.".....Gens
- "In my opinion we need to play more meat and potatoes hockey, get the puck in and win battles with a high compete level. I thought Atlanta out skated us and had stronger sticks almost the entire night.".....Costello
- "Our scoring chances look pretty but sometimes you need to take the C+ chance and put a guy in the front of the net and score that way too."Costello
- "We will watch video tomorrow and learn from this and we need to learn quickly. We don't want to get behind the eight ball and have to fight back similar to last year. We will be patient but persistent with the players. ".....Costello
- "On the power plays in the third period when we had some 5-on-3 time I thought we didn't attack the net well enough and kept the puck on the outside.
- "The ECHL has changed a lot and is a very good league. Some teams have 8, 9, 10, 11 guys on their team signed to NHL/AHL contracts. Our league is fast and is a man's league very similar to the AHL. It is north-south league that is big and fast, and if we don't bring that every game we are in trouble. We are going to have to man up in front of the net, protect our goaltender and at the same time we have to get in front of the opposing goalie. In the NHL you see almost every goal is scored with a guy in front of the net. We have to be willing to take the punishment for the team.".....Costello
REMATCH PREVIEW
- The formula for success this afternoon is pretty straight forward and it is encapsulated in a comment coach Costello made after the loss in Idaho last weekend, "When we want to defend as hard as we want to score we will be a great hockey team."
- If Allen can continue the good starts, keep the shot totals close and win the special teams battle you have to like the Americans chances.
- The referee this afternoon will be the same (#9 Hunter Mottinger) as last night. For the most part he let the teams play last night calling just one penalty in the first and second period before calling six in the third period.
OTHER COMMENTS
- After the loss last night, Allen's all-time home opener record is now 7-8-0-0.
- For those of you that can't make the game today a reminder it will be broadcast on local television on CW33 (KDAF).
- Everyone remembers the poor start the Americans had last season but forgets they were 2-2 after four games. Allen does not want to be 1-3 after the game today.
- The class of the Mountain Division thus far has been the Kansas City Mavericks who have reeled off five straight wins to start the season. Even more impressive is three of the five wins came on the road.
- There are seven games on tap in the ECHL this afternoon. Here is the ECHL Today with the previews: https://echl.com/news/2023/10/echl-today-oct-29
- There were 86 goals scored in the 11 ECHL games last night. Only one game, Idaho's 4-1 win over Utah, had as few as five goals scored. In the other 10 games the average goals per team was 4.05.
- Atlanta is one of five remaining ECHL teams that are unbeaten:
- 5-0 Kansas City
- 4-0 Trois Rivières
- 3-0 Jacksonville
- 2-0 Atlanta
- 2-0 Greenville
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL stats post today is about rookie scoring leaders. FYI, Allen has seven rookies on its roster and two of them are in a four-way tie for the team lead in goals. Rookies Phillipe Daoust and Brandon Puricelli along with Colton Hargrove and Liam Finlay lead the Americans in goals with two each.
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