The Allen Americans salvaged two points in the series against Rapid City with a 4-3 overtime win over the Rush last night. After five straight games giving up the first goal of the game the Americans struck first at the 5:29 mark of the opening period on a goal by Liam Finlay. It was the only goal of the first period. A 1-0 lead after the first period was an encouraging sign since Allen's record when leading after the first period is 15-1-1-1.
- The Americans took a commanding 3-0 lead early in the second period. Mikael Robidoux scored 17 seconds into the period and Liam Finlay scored his second goal of the game 58 seconds later. Less than two minutes after the Americans took the 3-0 lead Rapid City scored. By the 3:31 mark of the period three goals had been scored and Allen had a 3-1 lead. That is how the second period ended.
- What looked like a comfortable 3-1 lead for the Americans late in the third period evaporated quickly when Rapid City scored twice in 35 seconds, at 14:51 and 15:26 mark. By the time the Rush tied the score 3-3, the third period shots were 11-1 in favor of Rapid City. Allen outshot the Rush 3-1 in the last two minutes of the game to make the final third period shot total 12-4 and force an overtime.
- At the 2:50 mark of overtime Colby McAuley was laying flst on the ice byt managed to make a pass to Ty Farmer. Farmer picked the far corner for the game winner and Allen had snapped its three game losing streak.
- Goal scorers for Allen were Liam Finlay (8,9), Mikael Robidoux (7) and Ty Farmer (5). Colby McAuley and Chaz Smedsrud each had two assist. Here are the video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-rapid-city-rush-march-30-2024
- Here are the game recaps from both teams:
- Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/03/americans-beat-rapid-city-in-ot
- Rapid City Rush: https://rapidcityrush.com/news/2024/03/rush-gain-point-in-ot-loss-to-allen
- Here are some post game quotes from Chad Costello:
"The game tonight was a well fought win."
"It wasn't the week that we had hoped for but the two points we earned tonight keeps us alive for the playoffs.
"The players still have the opportunity to do something special and I believe they can do it."
- The overtime win last night was Allen's third of the season. The American have been involved in the fewest extra time games in the league. Allen and Atlanta have been involved in seven extra time games while Newfoundland has been involved in 17. Allen is 3-2 in overtimes and 1-1 in shootouts.
- Ty Farmer didn't score a goal until the his 29th games of the season. Farmer's overtime goal last night was his fourth goal in the last eight games. Ty told me after practice recently he had changed something in his shot that has contributed to his goal scoring success. Farmer is tied with Liam Finlay for the team lead in goals over the last eight games with four.
- Allen has a big task ahead of them to make the playoffs. Utah won last night and Tulsa lost so the Americans are now six points behind both teams with seven games remaining. Next week will be make or break for Allen as they play four games in five days. The Americans play in Wichita on Wednesday in a morning game (10:30 am CDT) and then come home to play Adirondack on Friday and Saturday night and Sunday afternoon (2:10 pm).
- After next week Allen will end the season with three games against Tulsa on April 12, 13, 14 with the first two games at home and the last game of the season on a Sunday afternoon in Tulsa. It is highly likely the Americans playoff fate will be decided in the three game series against Tulsa.
- Allen has a great opportunity this week to cut into the six point lead Utah and Tulsa have over the Americans. Allen plays four games this week while Utah and Tulsa play only three.
- Utah is at home for three games against Kansas City on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Even though Kansas City has clinched the Mountain Division title it still has something to play for. The Mavericks road record is 26-3-2-1 and they need one more road win to set the all-time ECHL record for road wins in a single season.
- Tulsa's three games this week are against Wichita. They play at home on Friday and in Wichita on Saturday and Sunday.
OTHER COMMENTS
- The hottest team in the ECHL right now is the Toledo Walleye who has won nine straight games. The Western Conference has arguably the three best teams in the league in Kansas City, Toledo and Idaho. It is likely the Western Conference champion will be one of these teams, but whoever emerges will be battle tested going into the Kelly Cup finals.
- The Adirondack series next week has many story lines to talk about.
- Adirondack coach Peter MacArthur played 22 games for the Allen Americans in 2017-18 before suffering a season ending injury.
- MacArthur signed in Allen after being the captain in Adirondack to be closer to his family. His wife was the television host for Great Day San Antonio.
- MacArthur and Chad Costello both went directly from the locker room as captain to the head coach for their team the 2022-23 season.
- MacArthur and Costello first met when both played the first season of 3ICE after they had retired to become ECHL head coaches.
- Both spent time in Europe for a few years and both played in the top league in Germany (DEL) plus other countries.
- Costello is 37, MacArthur is 38.
- With such parallel careers they have become good friends.
- If you are following the NCAA Men's hockey playoffs the tournament it is down to six teams. Denver and Boston University advanced to the Frozen Four yesterday and the winners today between Boston College vs Quinnipiac and Michigan St.vs Michigan will advance.
Being a graduate of the University of Minnesota I was disappointed in the Gophers loss to Boston University 6-3 yesterday. I am sure there are many Allen Americans connections to the tournament but two particular came up in the Minnesota loss yesterday. The game was a lot closer than 6-3 as Boston U scored two empty net goals. The Gophers took a 2-0 lead in the first period. The first goal was scored by Jaxon Nelson who is a good friend of Caz Smedsrud. They played in high school together in a small town in Southwest Minnesota and are legends being the top two scorers in school history, Smedsrud averaged 3.21 points per game in high school and Nelson averaged 3.44. The Gophers second goal was scored by Bryce Brodzinski, the brother of Easton Brodzinski.
There are actually four Brodzinski brothers; Jonny (30), Mike (28), Easton (27) and Bryce (23). All have played in the Frozen Four but it is a house divided. Jonny and Easton played for St. Cloud State University while Mike and Bryce chose the University of Minnesota. Jonny is still playing (New York Rangers) and has 153 NHL games played. Mike is retired, played for the Americans in 2016-17 and played in 63 AHL games. Easton is Allen's second leading goal scorer (22 goals) and has one AHL game played. Bryce just finished his collegiate career and will likely turn pro soon. His NHL rights are owned by Philadelphia who drafted him in the seventh round in the 2019 NHL draft.
- With today being Easter Sunday there are no ECHL games scheduled, no games on Monday and just one on Tuesday. There will be nine games on Wednesday including the Allen morning game in Wichita.
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