Colin Jacobs scored the first goal of the game and the last goal of the game, but that was the entire offense for Allen last night as Kalamazoo beat the Americans 3-2 before a crowd of 3237 at the Wings Event Center. After reaching the .500 mark on March 3, Allen has lost four straight (second longest losing streak of the season) and is mired in sixth place in the Mountain Division with 53 points. Luckily the Americans didn't lose any ground in the standings as the teams they are competing against for a playoff spot either lost or were idle.
- Allen got on the scoreboard first at the 8:43 mark of the opening period when Colin Jacobs took a pass from Liam Finlay after a neutral zone turnover and went in all alone to score his fourth goal of the season. Less than four minutes later (12:36) Kalamazoo got the equalizer when the puck bounced off a skate right to a Wings player on the side of the crease. Allen had four players in the area but nobody took the open player's body or stick. The first period ended with the score tied 1-1.
- Kalamazoo scored the only goal of the second period which has been Allen's Achilles heel most of the season. The Americans have allowed 93 goals in the second period compared to 55 goals in the first period and 77 goals in the third period. The Americans had several chances to clear the puck out of the defensive zone but lost several puck battles. Kalamazoo took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission which was not a good sign when you consider Allen's record when trailing after the second period is 3-23-1-0. Even worse for the Americans, Kalamazoo's record when leading after the second period is 26-2-0-0.
- Kalamazoo extended its lead to 3-1 early in the third period when defenseman Chaz Reddekopp, who played seven games for Allen in 2020-21 when he was under contract with the San Jose Barracuda, scored his third goal of the season. Both Allen defensemen sprawled on the ice to block a shot/pass and the Wings ended up with three players all alone at the goal mouth.
- Allen did make the game exciting when Colin Jacobs scored his second goal of the game and fifth of the season five seconds after pulling goalie Mark Sinclair. The play was made by a clear faceoff win back to the point by Bennett MacArthur though he didn't get an assist on the goal. Eric Williams went "D-to-D" with Kris Myllari before firing the puck to the net. Jacobs tipped it into the net to make the score 3-2. There was still 82 seconds remaining in the game when Jacobs scored. The Americans had a couple of good chances in the final seconds but could not get the equalizer.
- Here are the video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-kalamazoo-wings-march-15-2024
- Special teams were a non-factor in the game as referee, Rocco Stachowiak, called just two minor penalties in the game (one on each team) and none in the final 45 minutes. Tonight there will be two referees (Evan Reddick and Trevor Wohlford) so it is a guarantee you will see more than two penalties.
- I had a chance to check in with Coach Costello after the game and this is what he had to say:
"We played hard tonight but to be successful this weekend we need to match the effort with playing smarter and having better execution."
"It will help at both ends of the ice getting Blake Murray back in the lineup on Saturday after he had to sit out tonight serving the second of his two game suspension."
"Mark Sinclair was great in goal stopping 39 of 42 shots."
"Our top players have to be better than their top players. If that happens we will be in good shape."
TONIGHT'S PREVIEW
- A big key to a win tonight is for the Americans to find more offense. It has been feast or famine for Allen recently. Over the last nine games Allen has scored four or more goals four times. In the other five games the Americans scored 0, 1, 1, 1 and 2 goals. During this four game losing streak Allen has averaged scoring 1.75 goals per game while allowing 5.00 goals per game.
- Special teams were not a factor in the game last night but that will likely change tonight. Allen needs to win the special teams battle if it expects to win tonight. March has not been kind to the special teams. The Americans power play percentage in the six March games is 12.5% (2-16). The penalty kill percentage is 63.7% (8-22).
- Allen was outshot 42-30 last night including 18-9 in the third period. For the season Allen averages 30.28 shots per game which is ranked #23 in the league. Kalamazoo is even worse ranked #27 in the league averaging only 28.35 shots per game. The Americans should be able to outshoot Kalamazoo.
- Allen lost last night despite scoring the first goal of the game. With that said, the team that scores the first goal tonight will be heavily favored to win the game. The combined record of Allen and Kalamazoo when scoring first is 38-12-2-1 (.745).
OTHER COMMENTS
- I was doing some research this morning for my ECHL stats page about fighting majors in the ECHL and found some interesting data.
- Allen has just 15 fighting majors this season.
- Only six ECHL teams have fewer fighting majors than Allen.
- Mikael Robidoux has one fight this season.
- South Carolina has the most fights (35).
- Idaho has the fewest fights (6)
- How times have changed when it comes to fighting majors. In 2016-17 Allen had 76 fights, averaging 1.06 fights per game. One player (Derek Mathers) had 29 fights, more than the entire Allen team will have this season. Here are the fights for each team in the Mountain Division this season:
- 26 - Wichita
- 24 - Rapid City
- 19 - Tulsa
- 17 - Utah
- 15 - Allen
- 14 - Kansas City
- 6 - Idaho
It is noteworthy the two best teams in the division have the fewest fighting majors. Very different from when Allen and Colorado were winning championships and at the top of the list for fighting majors.
- The EIHL in Great Britain has three different championships. Two are similar to the ECHL in there is a regular season champion and playoff champion. However, the playoffs are very short with the semi final games and finals being a single game elimination and take place over one weekend. The third championship is called the Challenge Cup and takes place throughout the season. The Sheffield Steelers just won the Challenge Cup and and are leading in the regular season championship with 10 games remaining. The Allen Americans are well represented on the Sheffield team. Colton Saucerman, Brett Neumann, Dominic Cormier, and Patrick Watling have all spent time in Allen.
- Winning the EIHL "domestic treble" (Challenge Cup, regular season and playoff championships) is very rare. It has happened just three times in the history of the league. Bruce Graham is #15 all time in games played in Allen with 184 games. However. he is ranked #3 all time in points (235), #4 in goals (97), #3 in assists and he averaged 1.31 points per game over his Allen career. Graham left Allen for the EIHL in 2012-13 and his team, Nottingham Panthers, won all three championships that season.
- Most of Allen's competition for a playoff spot will be in action tonight. In addition to Allen at Kalamazoo, Tulsa is at Indy and Utah is at home against Norfolk. Wichita is idle. Allen has to stop the bleeding and take advantage of the games in hand they have over their competition. Here is the ECHL Today with previews of 11 games on the schedule today: https://echl.com/news/2024/03/echl-today-march-16
- Congrats to Matt Register who passed yet another milestone last night playing in his 600th ECHL game. The future Hall of Famer has a storied career including:
- Three consecutive Kelly Cups (Allen 2016, Colorado 2017 & 2018).
- Two Kelly Cup finals (Toledo 2019, Idaho 2023).
- Three time ECHL Defenseman of the Year (2014, 2017, 2018) plus numerous runnerups
- Since joining the ECHL in 2012 Register has 26 more goals than any other defenseman, 154 more assists than any other defenseman and 180 more points than any other defenseman.
- Register has averaged .80 points per game over his ECHL career.
What many people don't know is Matt Register started his pro career in Allen back in 2012 in the Central Hockey League. At the time he signed with Allen he was playing for a men's senior league team in Sylvan Lake, Alberta. Bill McDonald was a long time head coach in pro hockey in the south who had won the CHL championship in 1997 with the Fort Worth Fire. At the end of his pro coaching career he was hired as an advisor/associate/assistant for the new Allen Americans franchise (2009-10). The captain of McDonald's championship Fort Worth Fire team, Dwight Mullins, had been named the first coach for the Americans. McDonald would watch practices from the upper level right next to the AV room and front office. I would sit next to Bill during practice and the stories he would tell were quite an education for me. This is the story Bill told me (as I recall) about recruiting Matt Register. Bill said he found this young defenseman playing men's hockey in Alberta that had a bunch of points (24 points, 6 goals 18 assists in 17 games to be exact). Bill said to me, "I am not sure what we have as this kid is so raw he is still used to getting dressed at home and driving to the rink." Allen signed Register and it was the start of an amazing pro career. Matt has now played in almost 800 professional games and at 34 years of age is second in points this season among ECHL defensemen with 51 (8G, 43A).
DID YOU KNOW: Here is the ECHL Stats post for today. With its 15 total fights and no player with more than three the Allen Americans have no fear of making the 10 fight rule and getting suspended.
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