It took four rounds in a shootout but the Allen Americans got back in the win column last night with a 4-3 victory over the Tulsa Oilers. A Wednesday night crowd of 2988 watched the Americans tie the score 3-3 with just 19.9 seconds remaining in the game and go on to win the game in the fourth round of a shootout..
- It was a close and well played game by both teams. Neither team had more than a one goal lead the entire game and the Americans didn't lead until the shootout game winner. Allen scored first just 94 seconds after the opening puck drop on a Blake Murray goal, but Tulsa answered back to tie the score only 42 seconds later. The first period ended with the score tied 1-1. Allen had the better opportunities and outshot Tulsa 12-6 in the first period.
- Allen's pattern recently has been a close first period, a poor second period and a big third period. It proved true to form last night. Tulsa scored the only goal of the second period on the power play while outshooting the Americans 12-9. Allen actually played well in the second period and had several grade A opportunities but just couldn't finish. Tulsa took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission and there was reason for concern since the Oiler's have been almost unbeatable when leading after the second period (14-0-2-0).
- Allen tied the score 2-2 early in the third period (3:54) on Blake Murray's second goal of the game. By the midway point of the third period Allen had outshot Tulsa 12-1 but had just the one goal to show for it. Tulsa then went on a run of outshooting the Americans 8-1 which ended up with a goal at the 14:13 mark that gave the Oilers a 3-2 lead. After the Tulsa go ahead goal the Americans struggled to get the puck out of their defensive zone. That all changed when Allen pulled the goalie with 73 seconds remaining. The Americans had a couple of great chances to no avail until Colby McAuley found the back of the net with 19.9 seconds left in the game.
- It was a wild overtime period with both teams having great opportunities to score. Each team had a 3-on-1 chance and didn't even get a shot. Allen had the better opportunities outshooting Tulsa 4-2 in the overtime period.
- The shootout came with plenty of drama. A Tulsa player started building up snow with his stick in the crease his team was defending in the shootout. I think it was Robidoux who reciprocated in the Allen crease. The referee called for the ice maintenance crew to come out with shovels and clear the snow from around the nets. The tension was building during the delay. Next there was a dispute as to which team was shooting first. The home team has the choice and Chad Costello chose to go first, but both teams had a player on the ice ready to go. For some reason the referee ruled Tulsa would go first and coach Costello decided to not argue about it. It turned out to be a good decision since Tulsa's first shooter was stopped and then Easton Brodzinski gave Allen the lead. In the second round both teams missed but Tulsa scored in the third round to even the score. Tulsa missed in the fourth round and Colin Jacobs scored to give Allen the win.
- It was a great game with an outstanding ending. You won't find many games as entertaining as the one last night. A close back and forth game with lots of scoring chances and great goaltending by both goalies.
- Here are some random stats from this game:
- In the six head to head games prior to last night Tulsa averaged 44 shots and Allen averaged 31 shots. Last night Allen out shot Tulsa 41-34.
- Last night was just the fifth time all season (45 games) Allen has outshot its opponent.
- Last night was the first and only time all season Allen has outshot its opponent and won the game. The Americans are now 1-4-0-0 when outshooting the opponent.
- Allen snapped a four game losing streak and a stretch where the Americans had lost eight of nine games.
- Allen has been in six extra time games all season with four of them being against Tulsa. Allen is 2-2 in overtimes (both wins against Tulsa) and 1-1 in shootouts (win against Tulsa).
- Goal scorers for Allen were Blake Murray (14, 15) and Colby McAuley (21). Colin Jacobs had the game winning goal but shootout goals don't count in the stats nor is a game winning goal credited. I have never understood why. Hank Crone had two assists and is now #5 in the league with 33 assists. Here are the video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/tulsa-oilers-vs-allen-americans-feb-7-2024
- Hank Crone needed help getting off the ice after he took a big hit late in the game and his leg got caught under him. He left the rink last night in a boot and will have it examined today. Hopefully it is not a serious injury.
- I had a chance to stop by the coaches office and needless to say it was a happy group. Anytime you go from getting no points as it looked like with 21 seconds left in the game to getting two points it makes for a fun locker room.
- Here is what coach Costello had to say about the game:
"It was one of those games where I thought we were the better team for long stretches and we had the better chances."
"Sometimes when you don't score after having so many chances, you want so bad to see one or two go in and see the floodgates open but that never happened."
"When they scored to take a 3-2 lead it was a wake up call because we were playing great but we were on the verge of losing another home game."
"I like the way the team stayed with it and that was a great goal by McAuley to get us to overtime."
"To be honest I would say even though we don't have the results to show it, we have played pretty solid hockey going back to the Kansas City series, the Idaho series and then game tonight."
"If we continue to play like we have been playing and grow from there I like where we stand every single night."
"Everyone contributed tonight. We pretty much rolled four lines until late in the game so minutes should be down. The only thing I would change is a little more hunger to score goals. We need to get more bodies to the net when the puck gets there.
- Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/02/game-recap-americans-win-in-a-shootout
OTHER COMMENTS
- Allen now has four players with 15+ goals:
- 21 goals - Colby McAuley
- 18 goals - Easton Brodzinski
- 15 goals - Hank Crone
- 15 goals - Blake Murray
- Allen's power play unit is all over the ECHL leader board:
- #1 power play goals (11) - Colby McAuley
- #3 power play assists (18) - Hank Crone
- #3 power play points (22) - Hank Crone
- #5 power play points (21) - Kris Myllari
- #5 power play assists (17) - Kris Myllari
- Kansas City beat Fort Wayne at home last night and has opened up a nine point lead in the Mountain Division over Idaho (69 vs 60). The Mavericks overall record is 33-8-2-1. What really distinguishes Kansas City is a phenomenal road record of 17-2-0-1.
No comments:
Post a Comment