The Allen Americans face a big challenge the next two nights as they entertain the best team in the ECHL at a critical point in the season. The Kansas City Mavericks arrive at the CUTX Event Center with the #1 points percentage (.782), #1 in points (86) and on record pace for road wins. Kansas City's road record is 22-2-0-1 (.885). The Mavericks have 10 road games remaining and need five wins to break the all time ECHL record of 26 road wins in a season.
- Allen enters the weekend playing some of its best hockey of the season. The Americans have won five of their last six games in various fashion. Allen had a 1-0 shutout and an 8-4 blowout. Over their last six games the Americans allowed an average of 2.17 goals per game.
- Allen has played Kansas City tougher than any other team in the Mountain Division. While the Americans have a losing record overall against the Mavericks (3-6-0-1), in the seven games played in Kansas City their record is 3-3-0-1 (.500). Allen has struggled against Kansas City at home (0-3-0-0) losing 4-2, 3-1 and 5-3, but those games were on consecutive nights back in November. Allen's lineup has changed a lot since those losses in November. Liam Finlay, Blake Murray, Bennett MacArthur, Colin Jacobs, Gavin Gould, Solag Bakich, Johnny Walker, Marco Constantini, Ryan Gagnon, Ty Farmer, Nolan Orzeck, Andrew Jarvis and Dalton Skelly did not play in those home games in November.
- Here are the head to head stats against Kansas City in the 11 games played this season:
- Kansas City has outscored Allen 37-29.
- Kansas City has outshot Allen 373-258.
- Allen's power play is 7-34 (20.6%).
- Kansas City's power play is 8-52 (15.4%).
- Kansas City has scored first in five of the 11 games and won them all.
- Allen has scored first in six of the 11 games and won three of them.
- Over the last 10 games Allen's record is 7-3-0-0 and Kansas City's is 7-2-1-0. Allen has won three straight and Kansas City has a six game point streak (5-0-1-0). Both teams are playing good hockey coming into this series. There were roster changes for both teams this week. Allen forward Tarun Fizer was recalled by Belleville due to injuries. Kansas City's top defenseman, Ryan Jones, has returned after spending several weeks in Coachella Valley (AHL). Despite playing in only 44 of Kansas City's 55 games, Jones leads all Maverick defensemen in points with 23 (4G, 19A) and is +26 on the season.
- It is a key for every game but even more so against a top team like Kansas City. The Americans must get off to a quick start against the Mavericks. Kansas City has scored the first goal in 60% of its games and has a record when scoring first of 28-3-2-0 (.879). Combine that with Allen's record of 6-20-1-0 (.241) when giving up the first goal and you can see the importance of a good start tonight. The stats also tell the tale of not falling behind. Both teams are almost unbeatable when they have a lead after the first period. Allen is 13-0-1-0 and Kansas City is 22-2-1-0.
- Special teams will also play a big role in this two game series. In the 11 games between these teams this season Kansas City has had 52 power play opportunities while Allen has had just 34. If you look at overall stats, Allen's power play at home is 20.9% (19-91) compared to Kansas City's road power play percentage of 23.6% (21-89). Allen's home penalty kill percentage is just 72.2% (30-108) compared to the Maverick's road penalty kill percentage of 80.6% (12-62). Most notable about these stats is the difference in power play opportunities allowed. Allen is near the top of the league giving up 108 power play opportunities at home. Kansas City on the other hand has given up the fewest road power play opportunities with just 62. Allen has done a great job recently in reducing penalties that lead to power play opportunities. Over the last six games Allen has allowed and average of just three power play opportunities per game. Staying out out of the penalty box and limiting Kansas City's power play opportunities will be key.
- Control of the neutral zone will be another key factor against Kansas City. In the 11 games between these teams Allen is averaging 23 shots per game while allowing 34 shots per game. So much of this shot differential is the result of neutral zone play. Knowing when to chip the puck in is key because neutral zone turnovers deprive Allen of offensive zone time and creates great opportunity and shots for the opponent.
- Kansas City is second in the league averaging 4.22 goals per game and is the only team in the ECHL that is top five in goals scored and also goals allowed. The Mavericks are ranked #5 in goals allowed (2.78). Allen has moved up to #6 in goals scored (3.45) but is still ranked #26 in goals allowed (3.92). As mentioned above the Americans have been much better defensively recently which has translated to giving up fewer goals. If Allen can hold Kansas City to three or fewer goals they will have a great chance to come away with a victory. The Americans record this season when allowing three or fewer goals is 18-3-1-0 (.841).
TONIGHT'S LINEUP
OTHER COMMENTS
- Kansas City is the only ECHL team that has clinched a post season spot but don't look for the Mavericks to take their foot of the gas. They are the odds on favorites for the Brabham Cup as the regular season champions, even though that comes with the curse that accompanies the championship. The regular season champion has not won the Kelly Cup since Alaska accomplished the feat 10 years ago in 2014.
- The Minnesota High School Hockey Tournament is under way and it is quite the spectacle. From the "all hair team" to filling an NHL arena, to the great hockey you have to see it to believe it. The opening round for the AA (bigger schools) was yesterday. On a Thursday afternoon a new attendance record of 19,765 was set. The evening session was even bigger with 20,208 in attendance.
- Former NHL player, coach and general manager, Lou Nanne, who has done color commentary for the tournament for 60 years has announced this will be his last. Here is an interview with Nanne talking about his connection to the tournament and its importance in Minnesota. He highlighted as a measuring stick of the popularity of the high school hockey tournament this great stat. In 1991 before the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas one of the major television stations (WCCO) paid more for the broadcast rights to the 4-day high school hockey tournament than they paid for the entire season carrying the North Stars.
Here is the interview with Lou Nanne. At the 5:00 minute mark he talks about the popularity of the state tournament:
- There are 11 games on the ECHL schedule tonight. The games involving Mountain Divisions teams in addition to Kansas City at Allen include Rapid City at Utah, Iowa at Wichita and Idaho at Newfoundland. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2024/03/echl-today-march-8
- Here are the ECHL Stats posts the last few days for you stat geeks:
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