The Allen Americans beat the Kalamazoo Wings last night by a score of 5-2. Maybe the Saturday night, big crowd (5217 sellout), specialty jersey (St. Patrick's Day) curse worked in the Americans favor. Playing on green ice the Americans scored the first goal of the game when Liam Finlay made a nifty move around a defender and scored from the slot. It was the only goal of the first period. It was a good sign for Allen fans considering the Americans road record when leading after the first period is 9-0-1-1.
- The second period has been Allen's worst period all season. When Kalamazoo tied the game 1-1 just two minutes into the second period it looked like Allen's -22 second period goal differential (71 goals for, 93 goals against) would be on the rise again.
- Allen quickly made a statement this game was going to be different by taking the lead back just 25 seconds after Kalamazoo tied the score 1-1. Colin Jacobs scored his third goal of the series. The Americans blew the game open with two more goals in 37 seconds at the 5:14 mark and 5:51 mark of the second period. Gavin Gould and Ty Farmer were the goal scorers. You add the three goals together and Allen went from a 1-1 tie to a 4-1 lead in just over three minutes. Allen won the period 3-1 and took a 4-1 lead into the second intermission. FYI, Allen's road record when leading after the second period is 12-0-1-1.
- Kalamazoo managed to cut Allen's lead to 4-2 early in the third period but Ty Farmer scored his second goal of the game (third of his pro career) to quell any chance of a Wings comeback. Kalamazoo outshot Allen 15-5 in the third period as the Americans spent more time defending and forcing the Wings to the outside. Goalie Marco Constantini was outstanding stopping 14 of 15 third period shots and 39 of 41 in the game for a save percentage of .951. His performance earned him the #1 star of the game.
- Goal scorers for Allen were Liam Finlay (6), Colin Jacobs (6), Gavin Gould (9) and Ty Farmer (2,3). Here are the video highlights with all of the goals: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-kalamazoo-wings-march-16-2024
- Here are the game recaps issued by both teams:
- Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/03/the-battle-on-green-ice-goes-to-allen
- Kalamazoo Wings: https://kwings.com/news/2024/03/k-wings-welcome-5217-fall-to-americans-on-green-ice
- Allen injury woes continue with Easton Brodzinski and Jonny Walker missing the game last night. Allen did get Blake Murray back after his suspension and signed amateur free agent Griffen Fox yesterday. Fox had been released by Fort Wayne and was close by so it was fortunate he could be signed and get to Kalamazoo quickly. Fox looked good on the ice given the circumstances, he had two great scoring opportunities and finished the game +1.
- Allen has been battling injuries all season with 11 players on injured reserve at one point. Captain Colton Hargrove has been out since November 22, Hank Crone has been out since February 7 and Liam Finlay missed 46 games before his recent return. Based on last season stats these three players represent just shy of two goals per game. That is a lot of offense the Americans have missed due to injuries from these three players.
- Coach Costello's post game comments:
"The team played great tonight, mostly because our compete level was very high."
"We now have a chance to win this road series, but it will take another great effort tomorrow afternoon."
"When we have everyone contributing like we did tonight, we are a tough team to beat."
"We had another great game in goal. Marco stopped 39 of 41 shots tonight after Sinclair stopped 39 of 42 shots Friday night."
"Fox arrived late in the day and did a great job in the game. He is a smart player."
TODAY'S PREVIEW
- For the third straight week Allen will be playing three games in three days with game three a Sunday afternoon early start. Game time today is 2:00 pm CDT.
- Allen has no extra players so look for the lineup to be the same as last night. I assume the one exception will be in goal. With an early puck drop you have to expect Mark Sinclair will get the start.
- A lot went well for Allen last night. The Americans scored first, led 1-0 after the first period, led 4-1 after the second period, won the special teams battle, and had the better goalie play. The one area that needs improvement today is reducing the shots allowed. Kalamazoo outshot the Americans 41-24.
- Allen and Utah are the only Mountain Division teams in action today. It is hard to overstate the importance of Allen getting points today, preferably with a win. Utah had a big comeback win last night at home against a good Norfolk team. Utah was trailing 4-1 late in the game and scored three goals in 68 seconds (17:03, 17:51, 18:11) to tie the game and then won it in overtime. Utah is one point ahead of Allen, but Allen has a game in hand. Best case today is Allen could vault Utah into fourth place. Worst case Allen falls three points behind the Grizzlies in a battle with Wichita for fifth and sixth place.
- Allen has three home games against Kansas City next week and have not beat the Mavericks at home this season (0-5-0-0). Two points today against Kalamazoo would be huge going into the Kansas City series.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Here is the updated Mountain Division standings by points and points percentage. FYI, Kansas City and Idaho are the only ECHL teams that have already qualified for the Kelly Cup playoffs:
- 94 points - Kansas City, .783
- 84 points - Idaho, .689
- 60 points - Tulsa, .492
- 56 points - Utah, .475
- 55 points - Allen, .474
- 54 points - Wichita, .450
- 49 points - Rapid City, .408
As I have said before the final two playoffs spots will not be decided until the final games of the season. In case you have forgotten Allen finishes the season with three games against Tulsa. April 12th and 13th in Allen and the final game of the season on the 13th in Tulsa.
- There are seven games on the ECHL schedule today. Here are the previews: https://echl.com/news/2024/03/echl-today-march-17
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