The Allen Americans finished the week with a 4-3 win over the Wichita Thunder Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 3970 at the CUTX Event Center. It was quite a weekend for the Americans who overcame some obstacles to win three games in a span of 44 hours and 35 minutes. Allen was the only team in the division to go undefeated during week. With the three wins Allen has moved into a tie with Tulsa for third place (by points percentage) in the Mountain Division. Allen's points percentage has now reached the .500 mark.
- The three wins are even more impressive when you consider the Americans played at home Friday night and had to bus to Wichita right after the game. Their bus broke down on the way to Wichita and by the time a replacement was summoned from Wichita to pick them up, they transferred all the luggage and equipment to the new bus and drove the last 90 minutes to the hotel it was 6:30 am. Adding insult to injury there was a snafu at the hotel which delayed getting into their rooms. Despite all the problems the team played one of their most dominate games of the season, scored five first period goals, took a 7-0 lead and beat the Oilers 8-4.
- After the win on Saturday it was back on the bus for the return trip to Allen which was uneventful other than the team arrived home around 4:30 am and game time on Sunday afternoon was 2:10 pm. Wichita also had to travel overnight to get to Allen so both teams were tired going into the Sunday matinee.
- Allen had the better chances in the first period but Wichita got on the scoreboard first at the 14:00 minute mark. Allen had scored the first goal of the game in five straight games against the Thunder prior to yesterday and won them all. Just as it looked like Wichita would take a lead into the first intermission Allen responded. With less than two minutes remaining in the period Eric Williams found a loose puck in the high slot, spun around and fired the puck into the net for his sixth goal of the season.
- Wichita took a 2-1 lead early in the second period but once again Allen responded. Liam Finlay scored his third goal in as many games since returning to the lineup and Ty Farmer scored his first professional goal to give Allen a 3-2 lead after the second period. It is always a good sign when Allen has a second period lead. The Americans record when leading after the second period is 20-2-1-1. Wichita's record when trailing after the second period is 2-22-1-0.
- Despite the odds favoring Allen the third period proved suspenseful. Allen took a penalty and Wichita scored on the power play to tie the score 3-3. Just 98 seconds later, at the 15:46 mark, the line that has been carrying the team lately struck again. Blake Murray scored the game winner, his 17th goal of the season, assisted by Bennett MacArthur and Tarun Fizer.
- Wichita pulled the goalie with just over a minute remaining in the game and managed to get three shots on goal, but Chase Perry made some great saves. Allen made several attempts for an empty net goal that failed. The Americans have struggled this season to put away games with empty net goals. Allen has just three empty net goals in 53 games which is one of the lowest numbers in the league. Eight ECHL teams have double digit empty net goals led by Kansas City and Jacksonville with 15. There are eight players in the league with as many or more empty net goals as Allen's team total. Here are the number of empty net goals for the Mountain Division teams:
- 15 - Kansas City
- 14 - Tulsa
- 9 - Idaho
- 8 - Utah
- 8 - Wichita
- 5 - Rapid City
- 3 - Allen
- Here are some post game quotes from players and coaches:
"It is tough to beat our team right now. We have so many skilled players in our lineup no lead is safe.".....Blake Murray
"It feels so good to be back on the ice. It was a long road back but well worth it. This team could do some damage in the playoffs with all of the talent on our roster. It will be nice to have a few days off before we face Kansas City on Friday.".....Liam Finlay
"It was a long time coming (Farmer's 1st pro goal) and it is a special moment in your career that you will never forget.".....Ty Farmer
"I thought we were the far superior team all weekend.".....Chad Costello
"In Wichita we were experts at chipping the puck in and out. Today we weren't as expert and had a couple of turnovers.".....Aaron Gens
"Early start Sunday games are very tough mentally especially when you are dominating like we were in the first period. You play a period where you think you should have three, four or five goals and you only have one. You say to your self we have to play even harder and that is mentally stressful when you are so tired.".....Chad Costello
"Wichita played us the same in the neutral zone today as they did Saturday night, we just didn't handle it as well. When they run their trap if you don't chip it passed them it turns into a quick transition going the other way. That happened a few times today and allowed them to stay in the game.".....Aaron Gens
"Our power play didn't score but we had a lot of good looks. On that one power play we must have had 10 grade A chances.".....Chad Costello
- Here are the video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/wichita-thunder-vs-allen-americans-march-3-2024
- Allen had a great weekend with a three game sweep and won't play again until next weekend when the Americans will once again play three games in three days. The logistics will be much better with all three games at home. The strength of schedule however will be more difficult. Allen will play the best team in the league, Kansas City, on Friday and Saturday before taking on Tulsa Sunday afternoon. As tight as the Mountain Division is the Americans will need to earn a minimum of four points next weekend to avoid going backwards in the standings.
- Goalie Leevi Meriläinen was just sent back to Belleville from Ottawa so Mark Sinclair is headed back to Allen. There have been several injuries among the forwards in Ottawa and Belleville so Tarun Fizer has been recalled to Belleville.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Kansas City beat Tulsa yesterday and became the first team to clinch a playoff spot. There are 15 more teams to qualify for the Kelly Cup playoffs and you can bet some of them won't qualify until the last game of the regular season.
- Allen has reached the .500 mark in points percentage based on winning five of the last six games and seven of the last nine games. Here are the Mountain Division standings based on points percentage with games remaining in parenthesis:
- .782 - Kansas City (17 games)
- .700 - Idaho (17 games)
- .500 - Allen (19 games)
- .500 - Tulsa (16 games)
- .464 - Utah (17 games)
- .418 - Wichita (17 games)
- .382 - Rapid City (17 games)
- Here is this week's schedule for Allen, Tulsa, Utah, and Wichita, the four teams fighting for two playoff spots, showing home (H) and away (A) games. Note Tulsa has just two games this week and Wichita has four. Also notice Allen, Utah and Wichita have all home games and Tulsa plays both of its games on the road.
- Allen - Kansas City (H), Kansas City (H), Tulsa (H)
- Tulsa - Wichita (A), Allen (A)
- Utah - Rapid City (H), Rapid City (H), Rapid City (H)
- Wichita - Tulsa (H), Iowa (H), Iowa (H), Kansas City (H)
- Allen outshot Wichita yesterday 43-32. It was the first time in the eight head to head matches against the Thunder the Americans have reached over 40 shots. Even more impressive is the combined first period shot totals on Saturday and Sunday. Allen outshot Wichita 37-16.
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about the number of defensemen used by ECHL teams. Allen has used 15 defensemen thus far this season.
Are Allen Americans practice sessions open to the public? If so, is there a published schedule? Enjoy the blog and the time you spend on this.
ReplyDeleteI have tried to reply twice the last few days but they did not publish. The answer is yes but with some logistical obstacles. Email me and I will give you the details (janssenfamily@ msn.com).
DeleteBad news: We cannot seem to hit an empty net. Good news: There is a reason that net is empty!
ReplyDelete