Allen takes on Kansas City tonight (7:35 pm CST) in the second of the three games series against the Mavericks and the Americans really need a win. Allen has the worst point percentage in the ECHL (.341) but is still in the thick of the Mountain Division playoff race because four Mountain Division teams are below .500. Here is how far the Americans are behind the fourth and final playoff spot in each ECHL division (by point percentage) which shows Allen would be in deep trouble if it wasn't in the Mountain Division. The point percentage for the fourth place team in each division is in parenthesis compared to Allen's .341:
- .114 - Mountain Division (.455)
- .184 - Central Division (.525)
- .209 - South Division (.550)
- .222 - North Division (.563)
- What does Allen have to do to win tonight. The simple answer is fewer defensive mistakes. Even though the Americans have improved in shots allowed over the last five games (34.6 per game average) it hasn't translated into fewer goals allowed (5.00 per game average). The result is a 1-4-0-0 record over the last five games. Not sure if you can attribute the poor defense to hockey IQ, lack of execution or caring more about scoring than winning, but allowing 4.68 goals per game (season average) will not get Allen into the playoffs. FYI, 23 of 28 ECHL teams allow a full goal less per game than Allen and the top teams allow less than three goals per game. FYI, in Allen's seven wins this season the average goals allowed was 2.43. In Allen's 15 losses, goals allowed average was 5.40. Allen will have to give up fewer than four goals tonight if they expect to win. Remember, the Mavericks are ranked #5 in the ECHL allowing an average of 2.83 goals per game.
- Another key to victory tonight is finding a way to slow down Kansas City's top line who had all the goals (6) and points (16) on Wednesday and set several ECHL season highs and franchise records. It is tougher on the road when the home team gets last change, but Allen needs to find a way to slow down the top line.
- Neither team scored a power play goal on Wednesday and that will not happen again tonight. Allen has the better power play and penalty kill and needs to win the special teams battle to be successful tonight.
- Kansas City has won four straight games against Allen and in three of the four losses the Americans gave up the first goal of the game. A reminder Kansas City is 12-2-1-0 (.833) when scoring first and Allen is 2-10-0-0 (.167) when giving up the first goal of the game. Odds heavily favor Kansas City if the Mavericks score the first goal.
- Allen will have another NHL/AHL contracted player available tonight. The Tampa Bay Lightning assigned forward Bennett MacArthur to Allen and he was meeting the team in Kansas City last night. He will be wearing #10. The Americans now have five NHL/AHL contracted players from four organizations. Coach Costello has been working the phones for a while trying to find NHL/AHL contracted players and his work has paid off.
- Leevi Meriläinen - Ottawa (NHL)
- Mark Sinclair - Belleville (AHL)
- Hank Crone - Chicago (AHL)
- Blake Murray - Carolina (NHL)
- Bennett MacArthur - Tampa Bay (NHL)
- Bennett MacArthur was signed to an entry level NHL contract (3 years) starting in 2022-23. He is a 6"1' and 200 pound, left shot forward who is 22 years old and hails from Summerside, Prince Edward Island. After turning professional last season he played in four AHL games (Syracuse) but spent the majority of time in Orlando where he played in 53 games and had 28 points (10G, 18A). In 12 games in Orlando this season he had three points (1G, 3A). His last season in junior hockey, playing for Acadie-Bathurst in the QMJHL, he totaled 77 points (42G, 35A) in 54 games. Here is what Tampa Bay's director of player development said about MacArthur when he was signed, "He is a 200-foot player. He is offensive minded and can really shoot the puck. He is a good skater, has above average skill and he's a real competitor."
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| Bennett MacArthur |
- The referee tonight will be #10 Austin O'Rourke, the same as on Wednesday. He only called a total of six penalties in game one. I talked about Austin's dad, Dan O'Rourke, who has been an NHL referee since 1999 in the game preview on Wednesday. Here is a video interview with Dan O'Rourke where he talks about why he is riding his bike along route 66 to raise funds for the National Federation of the Blind, his NHL career and what it takes to be a NHL referee.
FYI, O'Rourke did finish the ride. Here is the story and the details of this very compelling ride: https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-referee-dan-o-rourke-completes-bike-ride-for-blind
OTHER COMMENTS
- Here is the game preview issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2023/12/nhls-tampa-bay-lightning-assign-forward-to-allen
- There are 12 games on tap in the ECHL tonight. Five of the seven Mountain Divisions play tonight with Tulsa and Wichita idle. They will play their only game of the weekend tomorrow night in Tulsa. Here are the previews: https://echl.com/news/2023/12/echl-today-dec-15
- Kris Myllari continues to be all over the leader board for ECHL defensemen:
- #3 - Points (21)
- #4 - Goals (5)
- #4 - Assists (16)
- #1 - Power Play Points (13)
- #1 - Power Play Assists (11)
- #2 - Power Play Goals (2)
- A defenseman, Jalen Smereck (Cincinnati), leads all ECHL players in assists (25) and is #3 in points (31). If he continues his current pace he is projected to have over 100 points. The most points scored by a defenseman in a single season in the last 10 years was 65 (Matt Register - 2017-18).
- Former Allen player, Zane Franklin, was traded by Idaho yesterday to Cincinnati to complete a future considerations trade from earlier in the season. Not sure of the specifics of this trade but I do know sometimes when a trade is completed with future considerations it is for a specific player at a specific time. The original trade of this trade was on October 16. I doubt Idaho thought Franklin would be leading the team in power play assists (9) and would be averaging almost a point per game (.96) when they made this futures trade. Not sure if this is what happened, but I do know Idaho lost a great player that is popular with the fans.
- Greenville continues to be the most balanced team in the ECHL with the #5 ranked team for average goals scored (3.73) and #5 in goals allowed (2.73). Same on special teams as Greenville is #6 on the power play (26.0%) and #5 on the penalty kill (84.4%). The Swamp Rabbits accomplish this without being loaded with NHL/AHL contracted players like some top tier teams. Greenville has only three contract players on its active roster including former Allen goalie, Jeremy Brodeur. They also have two contract players on injured reserve.
Thanks for the info, great work by Costello hopefully it begins to pay off on the ice.
ReplyDeleteMy Anti-Homer prediction of the night...Allen wins 5-4 - still given up a buttload of shots - 39 - but they win.
ReplyDeleteBarry - love the blog - but you are the worst homer. I can figure out who is doing well and kudos to you for giving them props. But maybe there are players on this team responsible for for why they are the worst ECHL team? You talk all day long about Costello making changes - but every addition requires someone leaving - why don't you talk about the anchors on this team and the -23 +/- players that are dragging the team down? Asking for a friend....
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