Allen Loses 6-1, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Week Ahead, Division Champions, Playoff Potential, 20 Win Teams and More

 

The Allen Americans opportunity to win the series in Kalamazoo and move into a playoff position in the Mountain Division was a failure Sunday afternoon. Fielding the exact same line up that beat Kalamazoo 5-2 on Saturday, the Americans lost to the Wings 6-1 Sunday afternoon. A hallmark of the 2023-24 Allen team has been inconsistency and it was on display in the Sunday loss after the Saturday win.

- Kalamazoo scored the first goal of the game just 68 seconds after the opening puck drop and was never threatened the rest of the game. A second Wings goal at the 5:34 mark of the first period gave Kalamazoo a 2-0 lead and they never looked back. Allen did manage a power play goal at the 7:12 mark of the first  period to cut the score to 2-1. Colby McAuley scored his 12th power play goal of the season and team leading 24th goal. It turned out to be Allen's only goal of the game.

 

- How poorly did the Americans play? The shot totals tell you all you need to know. Allen managed just seven shots in the first period, six in the second period and six in the third period. Kalamazoo outshot Allen in all three periods by a wide margin, 15-7 in the first period, 14-6 in the second period and 13-6 in the third period. Kalamazoo also outscored Allen in all three periods (2-1, 1-0, 3-0). Allen's 19 shots on goal was one of the lowest totals of the season.

 

- Allen has now lost five of the last six games and the offense has been anemic in most of the losses. Allen's goal production in the five losses was 1, 4, 0, 2, 1. That is an average goals per game of just 1.60. To be fair the injury bug has bitten the Americans again recently. Hank Crone has been out a while but Grant Hebert was injured in Allen's last home game, Johnny Walker and Easton Brodzinski were injured in the game in Kalamazoo on Friday night and Bennett MacArthur was injured in the first period on Sunday.

 

- Rather than gaining ground this weekend the Americans have lost ground in the standings and lost most the games in hand they had over the other teams. Allen's points (55) is closer to fifth place Wichita (54) than fourth place Utah (58). Utah plays Norfolk at home today and with a win could extend its lead for the final playoff spot to five points. The saving grace for the Americans could be Utah's schedule as the Grizzlies last eight games of the season are against Idaho (5 games, 3H, 2A) and Kansas City (3 home games).   

 

- Here is a game recap and video highlights:

• Kalamazoo Wings game recap: https://kwings.com/news/2024/03/k-wings-thump-americans-6-1
• Video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-kalamazoo-wings-march-17-2024 
   

 - After the 6-1 loss yesterday you can be sure the team is anxious to get out of Kalamazoo and back to Allen. Unfortunately that is not the case. The team will stay in Kalamazoo all day, as their flight home isn't until tonight. To make matters worse the weather forecast for Kalamazoo today calls for snow. Hope there are no delays to what is already a late arrival in DFW tonight. 

 

- Allen will have little time to prepare/rest before another tough week ahead. The Americans play Kansas City on Wednesday morning (10:00 am), Friday and Saturday (7:10 pm). It will be a tough series for Allen for a few reasons:

• Kansas City is the #1 team in the ECHL with 94 points and has a 10 point lead for the regular season championship (Brabham Cup).
• The Mavericks road record is 24-2-2-1 and they are within striking distance of the ECHL all time record for road wins in a single season which is 26. A Kansas City sweep of Allen will give the Mavericks the record.
• Allen has not beaten Kansas City at home this season. The Americans are 0-5-0-0 and all losses were by more than one goal (8-4, 3-1, 4-2, 3-1 and 5-3).
   

- Games remaining in the ECHL regular season varies from a low of 10 (Atlanta) to a high of 14 (Trois Riviéres and Florida). Only two (Kansas City and Idaho) of 16 playoff teams have been determined. None of the regular season division champions have been determined. but the current leaders are the heavy favorites. Here are the details for each division:

• North Division - Adirondack has a six point lead over Norfolk. They play each other three times this week in Adirondack. Adirondack will be in Allen on April 5, 6 and 7.
• South Division - Greenville has a five point lead over Jacksonville. They play each other twice this week in Jacksonville.
• Central Division - Toledo has a 12 point lead over Wheeling. Just a matter of time before Toledo clinches the division title. Toledo has 12 games remaining and Wheeling 11. Any combination of Toledo winning points or Wheeling losing points that totals 11 points will give the title to Toledo. 
• Mountain Division - Kansas City has a 10 point lead over Idaho and like Toledo it is just a matter of time before Kansas City clinches the division title. If Idaho wins all of its remaining 11 games, Kansas City could finish the season (12 remaining games) 6-5-1-0 and still win the division title.

 

- There are two rare Monday games on the ECHL schedule today, Florida is at Orlando and Norfolk is at Utah. Here are the previews: https://echl.com/news/2024/03/echl-today-march-18     

 

- Toledo's Brandon Hawkins has a seven point lead in the ECHL scoring race and a six goal lead in the goal scoring race. Hawkins has 80 points (36G, 44A). Based on his average points per game (1.33), if Hawkins plays in Toledo's final 12 games he is projected to finish with 96 points.

 

- The only team in the ECHL with a current point steak longer than five games is Kansas City who has an 11 game point streak with a record of 8-0-2-1. The Mavericks current points percentage of .783 is close to cracking the ECHL all time top five for points percentage in a single season. Fifth place is .785. The top points percentage all time was set last season by Idaho who finished at .826. 

 

- If the Allen Americans make the playoffs it will be with a low number of points. The team has 55 points with 13 games remaining. If Allen wins all 13 remaining games its point total would be 81. If the Americans play .500 hockey the rest of the season the final point total would be 68. Here is a list of the regular season points for each Allen playoff team since joining the ECHL along with playoff results:

• 2014-15: 106 points (won Kelly Cup)
• 2015-16: 89 points (won Kelly Cup)
• 2016-17: 104 points (lost in 2nd round)
• 2017-18: 78 points (lost in 1st round)
• 2020-21: 94 points (lost in second round)
• 2021-22: 79 points (lost in 1st round)
• 2022-23: 77 points (lost in second round

 

DID YOU KNOW: Two ECHL teams have 20 home wins and three have 20+ road wins. Two teams are on both lists:

 

Home 20 Wins

20-8-2-1: Kansas City

20-11-1-0: Greenville 

 

Road 20+ Wins

24-2-2-1: Kansas City*

23-9-0-1: Idaho

20-7-2-0: Greenville 

 

*Kansas City is on pace to break the all time ECHL record of 26 road wins which has been achieved five times. Most recently in 2022-23 by Idaho and Toledo. Kansas City has seven road games remaining to get three wins to break the record.