Last night the Allen Americans won for the third time in four games against the Tulsa Oilers over the last 10 days. It was a 4-2 win over the Oilers before a crowd of 5800 at the BOK Center. With the win Allen has moved to within two points of third place Tulsa, however, the Oilers have two games in hand.
- The win last night followed a familiar pattern in Allen's recent success:
- Allen scored first to improve its record when scoring first to 17-5-1-1 (.750).
- Allen led 2-0 after the first period and is almost unbeatable when leading after the first period. The Americans record is now 12-0-1-1 (.929).
- Allen led 3-1 after the second period to improve its record to 17-2-1-1 (.857).
- Allen's penalty kill was perfect 0-4.
- Allen allowed two goals and improved its record when holding teams to three or fewer goals to 16-2-1-0 (.868).
- Allen got off to a great start when Blake Murray scored his 15th goal of the season just 37 seconds after the opening puck drop. Late in the period (17:18) Bennett MacArthur scored his seventh goal of the season to give Allen a 2-0 lead at the first intermission. After the Murray and MacArthur first period goals I started thinking what great finds these two contracted players were for Allen. They didn't just fall into Chad Costello's lap. He called many teams trying to find some help when Belleville could not send skaters to the Americans because of injuries. He saw the potential in these two players from different organizations and the player's NHL/AHL team had confidence in Costello's leadership style and commitment to player development. They were willing to send these players from their affiliate to Allen. The proof is in the pudding in how well this has worked out for Allen and the players:
- Blake Murray
- Before Allen: 12 games, six points (2G, 4A), points per game average .50
- Allen Stats: 28 games, 31 points (13G, 18A), points per game average 1.11
- Bennett MacArthur
- Before Allen: 12 games, three points (1G, 2A), points per game average .25
- Allen Stats: 20 games, 17 points (6G, 11A), points per game average .85.
The stats above show that Costello saw the potential in Murray and MacArthur. When given the opportunity and ice time they have been outstanding. In addition to their offensive ability they are 200 foot players. They are #1 and #2 on the Americans in plus/minus.
- The second period was key to the game. Tulsa cut Allen's lead to 2-1 early in the period (3:16), but Allen responded when Grant Hebert scored his eighth goal of the season at the 8:20 mark to regain its two goal lead. Hebert has four goals in the last four games. Allen had to kill two penalties and goalie Marco Costantini made numerous saves to allow the Americans to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.
- The third period was more of the same with Tulsa putting on the pressure and the Americans defense playing tough and when there were breakdowns Constantini was outstanding. Tulsa finally scored to cut the score to 3-2 with three minutes remaining in the game. Tulsa pulled the goalie and had several opportunities to tie the score before Eric Williams put the game away with an empty net goal, his fifth of the season, with 18 seconds remaining.
- Here are the game recaps from both teams with more details:
- Here are the video highlights. It includes all of the goals and the Andrew Jarvis fight. Also notice the great pass from Hebert on the MacArthur goal and the MacArthur pass on the Hebert goal. https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-tulsa-oilers-feb-16-2024
- COSTELLO COMMENTS
"It was a good road win and a key was our team defense."
"Our penalty kill was very good tonight (0-4) and had some critical kills at key points in the game."
"When you spend four hours on the bus on game day travel and come away with two points it is a good day."
"Marco Constantini played great again in goal. He has given us a chance to win in every game he has played."
"I am real proud of the guys and the way they battled tonight. Everyone contributed."
- There is no rest for the weary as both teams had to travel to Allen after the game (235 miles) and will be back on the ice for a game this afternoon (4:10 pm). When I talked yesterday about the strange scheduling for the three straight games against Tulsa starting with last night I forgot about the early start today which makes the scheduling even more bizarre. Here is the sequence again.
Allen drove to Tulsa yesterday (left at noon), played the Oilers last night, drove back to Allen after the game and plays Tulsa at home today (4:10 pm). Then the Americans take 12 days off before playing Tulsa again
at home on March 1. You hear about three games in three nights against
the same team quite often, but how about three games in 15 days against
the same team. Welcome to the ECHL schedule.
- It will be a tired group that takes the ice today for a 4:10 pm puck drop but it will be the same for both teams, as they both traveled over night to get to Allen. If there is one stat that will predict a win for Allen is holding Tulsa to three or fewer goals. To do that the Americans will have to do a better job in shots on goal. Last night the official shot totals from the boxscore shows Tulsa outshot Allen 55-26. The stats from the software that tracks shots shows Tulsa outshooting Allen 56-31. While Allen did a good job of keeping most shots from the outside, the Americans need to close the gap in shots today to be successful.
- In the last five games between Allen and Tulsa the team scoring first has won all of thme. Tells you how important the first goal will be this afternoon.
- Special teams will also be key this afternoon. Allen held Tulsa without a power play goal last night. It was the first time in the last seven games against Tulsa dating back November the Oilers haven't scored a power play goal against Allen. If the Americans can hold Tulsa scoreless on the power play this afternoon it should lead to a victory.
- I am not superstitious but it is worth noting the game this afternoon is a specialty jersey game with a big crowd on a Saturday. Maybe the early start will throw off the curse. haha
- The referee scheduled this afternoon is #17 Tatu Kunto. His name is not familiar but he works in the AHL, ECHL and WHL according to his bio. One of the linesman scheduled is #96 Daniel Barnes who worked the game in Tulsa last night. Daniel is familiar to Allen fans because he lives in the area and works a lot of Allen games. It will be understandable if he is dragging today, especially if he had to drive himself back to Allen after the game last night.
OTHER COMMENTS
- The Mountain Division winners last night were Allen, Kansas City, Idaho and Utah. Here are the standings by points with games remaining in parenthesis:
- 75 points - Kansas City (25 games)
- 67 points - Idaho (24 games)
- 49 points - Tulsa (25 games)
- 47 points - Allen (23 games)
- 45 points - Utah (25 games)
- 40 points - Rapid City (24 games)
- 35 points - Wichita (25 games)
- It is starting to look like Tulsa, Allen and Utah will battle for two playoff spots. You can slice and dice the schedule many ways. Here is a simple look at how many times these teams play Kansas City and Idaho the rest of the season. In parenthesis is how many times these teams play last place Wichita:
- Tulsa - nine times (8 times)
- Allen - five times (3 times)
- Utah - 14 times (0 times)
- Wheeling had its 12 game winning steak snapped in Utah last night. There have been two 12 game win streaks in the ECHL this season. Adirondack had one earlier in the season. Last season Toledo had an 18 game win streak (2nd longest in ECHL history) and Idaho had a 12 game win streak.
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