Allen's 4-2 Loss Included 123 Combined PIMS, Game Recap, Video Highlights, My Take on the PIMS, Attendance Stats and Goals Per Game Leaders

 

The box score shows Allen lost to the Idaho Steelheads last night by a score of 4-2 before a sellout crowd of 5213 at the Idaho Central Arena. It was the 20th straight sellout for the Steelheads. The headline doesn't come close to describing the game. An evenly matched and tame first period ended in a 1-1 tie. Idaho scored the first goal of the game and Allen responded on a Johnny Walker goal. Idaho had the edge in shots (13-10) and there was one minor penalty (against Idaho) and Allen failed to convert.

 

- Idaho dominated the second period outshooting the Americans 14-6 and outscoring Allen 3-0 to essentially put the game away. There were two minor penalties called in the second period, both against Allen, and Idaho converted on one of the two. Idaho took a commanding 4-1 lead into the second intermission. 

 

- Early in the third period (3:54) Idaho took a 5 minute major penalty/game misconduct for slashing and Allen scored (Colby McAuley) 26 seconds into the power play to cut the score to 4-2. It gave the Americans hope with over four minutes remaining in the power play. Allen came close but could not reduce the deficit despite outshooting the Steelheads 18-9 in the period. 

 

- Things went downhill in the third period. After just three minor penalties being called in the first two periods the third period was wild. When the dust settled the third period totaled 17 penalties for 117 minutes. Add the six penalty minutes from the first two periods and the game total of 123 combined penalty minutes by both teams is the second highest total in the ECHL this season. It is hard to imagine there won't be some suspensions. There was a melee after the game was over and all of the players were on the ice. Six players (three from each team) were given 10 minute penalties ranging from inciting to continuing an altercation.  Both teams might have caught a break in the way the referees handed out the penalties in the third period. Based on the rules cited, none of the penalties come with an automatic suspension, but the all encompassing "at the discretion of the Commissioner" is lurking for several of the incidences in the third period. I am sure there is a lot of blame you can attribute to both teams but to my eyes the activity after the game was over was started after an Idaho player skated over to challenge Robidoux. If you watch the replay both teams were going their own way until he skated over to a group of Allen players. I have to admit listening to the home broadcast of the activities after the final horn seemed way over the top in assessing blame and criticizing Allen. It was way beyond a normal homer call, which you would expect from a home broadcaster. 

 

- The conventional wisdom is in the game tonight players will have some scores to settle. That certainly could happen especially when you consider this is the last regular season game between these teams this season. It is clear the Allen players were not happy with the actions of one of the Idaho players that was not called a penalty. Tune in early tonight to see what happens. 

 

- Here are the game recaps from both teams. The Allen press release says there was a combined 57 PIMS in the third period and the Idaho press release say a combined 42 PIMS. I think the teams had to write press releases right after the game before all of the post game penalties were entered into the official boxscore. As of this morning the third period combined PIMS is indeed 117 minutes:  

• Allen Americans game recap: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/02/game-recap-americans-fall-4-2
• Idaho Steelheads game recap: https://idahosteelheads.com/news/2024/02/nicholas-canade-scores-twice-in-feisty-win-over-americans-4-2   
  

 

- Here is a link to the video highlights. Unfortunately it doesn't show any of the activity that led to all of the penalties in the third period.  https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-idaho-steelheads-feb-2-2024

- The common refrain you keep hearing after Allen loses in Idaho is the Americans can hang with the Steelheads. It was a bad call, a bad turnover or special teams miscue that led to the loss. However, the stats paint a different picture. Over the last two seasons Allen is 1-10-0-0 in Idaho and in the lone win the Americans were out shot 44-19. Add in the playoffs and the record in Idaho is 2-13-0-0. You hope Allen can find a way to get a win in the final game tonight, but the stats say Idaho will be a big favorite to sweep the series. 

 

- Allen's offense has sputtered over the last eight games. The Americans have scored four goals twice and came away with a win and a shootout loss. In the other six games, dating back to January 12, Allen scored two goals four times, one goal once and three goals once. The average goals scored over the last eight games was 2.50. Over the same eight games Allen has allowed an average of 4.25 goals per game. Not the formula for consistent success.

 

- In the bigger picture it was a step backwards for the Americans last night as Tulsa, Rapid City and Utah all earned points courtesy of Tulsa's 3-2 overtime win over Utah. Allen is holding on to fourth place by a thread. Here are the Mountain Division standings by points with points percentage in parenthesis:

• 64 points - Kansas City (.780)
• 58 points - Idaho (.674)
• 45 points - Tulsa (.549)
• 39 points - Allen (.453)
• 38 points - Rapid City (.452)
• 37 points - Utah (.440)
• 30 points - Wichita (.366)

 

- The Mountain Division is home to the #1 team in the league in Kansas City, 31-8-2-0 (.780) and the #28 team in the league in Wichita, 12-23-6-0 (.366). The bottom four teams in the division are ranked #23 (Allen), #24 (Rapid City), #25 (Utah) and #28 (Wichita) in the league. If the playoffs started today, Allen would be in despite being the #23 ranked team in the league.

 

- Almost 75,000 fans attended 14 ECHL games last night, an average of 5336 per game. The attendance varied widely from 9036 to 1641. Here is the complete list: 

• 9036 - Wichita
• 8965 - Jacksonville
• 8169 - Fort Wayne
• 8168 - Toledo
• 6795 - Savannah
• 5294 - Tulsa
• 5042 - Adirondack
  
• 5213 - Idaho
• 4262 - Maine
• 3756 - Newfoundland
• 3440 - Greenville
• 2885 - Kalamazoo
• 2048 - Wheeling
• 1641 - Trois Riviéres

 

- There is another full slate of games in the ECHL tonight with all 28 teams in action. Here is the ECHL Today with the previews: https://echl.com/news/2024/02/echl-today-feb-3

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: While no Allen players made the list blow, two are averaging exactly .50 goals per game. Colby McAuley has 20 goals in 40 games and Blake Murray has 11 goals in 22 games. Allen's all time record for average goals per game is held by Scott Howes. Scott scored 21 goals in 22 games to start the 2012-13 season, was loaned to the AHL and never returned. His .96 goals per game average has never been and will likely never be touched. Second place on the all time list is Hank Crone. Last season Hank had 49 goals in 69 games for an average of .71. Third place on the all time list is Gary Steffes who scored 44 goals in 63 games in 2014-15 for a goals per game average of .70.

 

ECHL players averaging more than .55 goals per game (minimum 20 games) this season:

.70 Mark Rassell, IDH

.67 Eddie Matsushima, WIC

.61 Alex Whelan, ATL

.60 Maxim Cajkovic, WHL

.59 Alex Kile, MNE

.56 Brandon Hawkins, TOL

.56 Keaton Mastrodonato, IDH

.56 Vincent Marleau, SAV

.56 Lucas Svejkovsky, WHL