The Allen Americans lost to the Kansas City Mavericks 3-1 last night before 4384 fans at the CUTX Event Center. It was a game that neither team was able to score an even strength goal. Allen was out shot 14-2 in the first period and then outshot Kansas City 19-8 in the third period.
- The first goal of the game didn't come until the 4:21 mark of the second period when the Mavericks took the lead on a power play goal. Allen answered back with a power play goal of its own, scored by Matt Marcinew assisted by Colton Hargrove and Kris Myllari. The trio has combined for a power play goal in all three games against Kansas City this week with each scoring a goal assisted by the other two.
- The game was tied 1-1 at the second intermission despite the Mavericks having a 30-10 edge in shots. A combination of the Americans keeping many of the shots from the perimeter and great goaltending from Mark Sinclair kept the score tied.
- The Americans dominated the third period blitzing the Mavericks with 19 even strength shots, many of them grade A, but could not score. The game turned on an ill advised roughing penalty with less than five minutes remaining that put Kansas City on the power play. A tipped puck gave Sinclair no chance at making the save. There was some question whether the goal was scored off a stick above the crossbar, but the four officials conferred and determined it was a good goal. Some fans were upset the referees didn't bother to review the video, but they got the call correct.
- Allen pulled the goalie with 61 seconds remaining and it took the Mavericks just 10 seconds to score an empty net goal to make the final score 3-1 and send Allen fans home with another Saturday night, specialty jersey loss. Allen's home record is now 0-4. Had someone ask after the game if the 0-4 home record is the longest winless streak to start the season. Dug into the archives this morning and found the answer to the question. In 2018-19 the Americans lost six straight home games to start the season and didn't win at home until the last day in November.
- Here are the video highlights with all of the goals plus some great saves by Mark Sinclair: https://echl.com/videos/kansas-city-mavericks-vs-allen-americans-nov-11-2023
- Here is the game recap issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2023/11/americans-lose-close-game-to-kansas-city
- It was a rare combination of shots for the Americans. Allen's two shots in the first period is the second fewest in the ECHL this season. The 19 Allen shots in the third period is the third most this season.
- If you are looking for positives from the game here are a few:
- Allen didn't give up an even strength goal to the best team in the Mountain Division.
- Allen allowed fewer than 40 shots for the first time all season.
- Allen gave up just two goals (plus and empty net goal).
- Allen was 1-1 on the power play.
- Allen had more shots in the third period than any period this season.
- There are also some improvements needed from the game:
- Allen did not score an even strength goal in the game.
- Allen had two shots in the first period and was outshot 38-29 for the game.
- Allen scored a power play goal but gave up two power play goals.
- Allen took eight penalties (24 minutes), Kansas City took three (6 minutes).
- Allen gave up the first goal of the game.
ALLEN VS KANSAS CITY MATINEE PREVIEW
- Allen needs to find a way to get a win this afternoon to avoid falling further behind in the division but it won't be easy. The Americans are already playing shorthanded. Defenseman Matt Sredl played forward last night and will do so again today. Three games in three days with an early start today always puts players at a higher risk for injury. Playing shorthanded only increases minutes which creates the possibility of even more injuries. It is possible the Americans could be playing with eight forwards this afternoon plus Sredl.
- Allen has scored three power play goals in the last two games, 3-6 for a 50% power play percentage. However, Kansas City has four power play goals, 4-11 (36.3%). Allen has taken 16 penalties in the first two games compared to nine for the Mavericks. Two late penalties contributed to the the losses on Friday and Saturday. Allen needs to stay out of the penalty box to be successful today.
- Allen will have two referees for the third straight game and it will be the same pair again this afternoon. After a 5-1 power play advantage for Kansas city last night, hopefully the calls will be more even today.
- Kevin Mandolese will get the start in goal before returning to Belleville. The plan all along was to have him play two games in Allen before returning to Belleville. He is coming off an injury so this could best be described as a rehab assignment.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Last season Idaho ran away with the Mountain Division and five teams, all around .500, battled for the final three playoff spots. It is still early but two teams have jumped ahead and the rest are battling for two playoff spots. Here are the current standings in points percentage order to account for the fact games played varies so much (7 to 11).
- .818 - Kansas City
- .778 - Idaho
- .571 - Utah
- .550 - Tulsa
- .409 - Rapid City
- .375 - Wichita
- .333 - Allen
- Throw in Allen's two losses to Atlanta and you have the Americans playing 11 of its first 13 games of the season (through November 18) against teams with a combined record of 24-4-0-0 and a points percentage of .857. No team in the ECHL has drawn a tougher schedule to start the season. Two of the four losses have been to Allen, one each to Idaho and Kansas City.
- 8-0 Atlanta plays Greenville at home on Tuesday morning in one of those Kids School Day games. It will be a chance for Atlanta to tie the ECHL all time record for wins to start the season. Greenville is right behind Atlanta in the South Division standings with a record of 7-1.
- The top four ECHL teams in points percentage are off to outstanding starts. None have more than one loss. Here is the list by points percentage with record in parenthesis:
- 1. 1.000 - Atlanta (8-0-0-0)
- 2. .917 - Toledo (5-0-1-0)
- 3. .889 - Trois Riviéres (8-1-0-0)
- 4. .875 - Greenville (7-1-0-0)
- Here is the ECHL Today with previews on the seven games on the schedule this afternoon: https://echl.com/news/2023/11/echl-today-nov-12
- Don't forget if you aren't going to the game this afternoon (2:10 pm puck drop) you can watch the game on CW33 in the DFW area. I also want to mention that after some issues with getting the blog posted on the Allen Americans new website, everything has been resolved. If you visit the Allen Americans website (allenamericans.com) just click on the "Team News & Info" heading and there you will find "Janssen on Hockey" which will display all of the recent blog posts.
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about the best special teams percentages. Allen is ranked #11 on the power play (21.9%) and #23 on the penalty kill (75.0%). The combined percentages is 91.9%.
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