The Allen Americans continued their streak of playoff style hockey last night beating Tulsa 3-2 before a crowd of 4920 at the CUTX Event Center. The Americans last six games have all been decided by a single goal with five of the six going extra time. Allen's record over the last six games is 5-0-1-0 and its six game point streak is the fourth longest in the league. Over this six game point streak the Americans have allowed just 12 goals.
- Last night Allen had the trifecta of scoring the first goal, leading after the first period and leading after the second period. As a reminder here is the Americans record when these three things happen:
- 22-7-1-1 (.742): Allen's record when scoring first.
- 16-1-1-1 (.895): Allen's record when leading after the first period.
- 24-2-1-1 (.893): Allen's record when leading after the second period.
- A good start was an imperative and Allen accomplished that by scoring its first goal just 3:57 after the opening puck drop. Blake Murray took a pass from James Hardie and shot top shelf over the goalies glove to notch his 20th goal of the season. Later in the period (16:37) Easton Brodzinski took a shot from the high slot that was tipped in by Kameron Kielly. It was Kielly's 10th goal of the season but his first since joining the Americans. Allen took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
- Allen increased its lead to 3-0 early in the second period (3:48) when Kielly scored his second goal of the game, stuffing in a rebound right at the goal mouth. James Hardie had an assist on the play, his third assist of the game. Tulsa got on the scoreboard with a power play goal (9:13) to cut the score to 3-1 and that is how the second period ended. After the second period Allen led on the scoreboard (3-1) but also had an edge in shots (25-23), something the Americans rarely accomplish against Tulsa.
- Allen was in control in the third period with its 3-1 lead until a shot thrown at the goal from the point found its way into the back of the net. There was two and a half minutes remaining when Tulsa scored (17:30) and it was game on. The Oilers optimism was short lived when Tulsa took a holding penalty. The Oilers pulled their goalie and played 5-on-5 but could not score the equalizer. Allen had a couple of chances for an empty net goal but missed. The Americans have just three empty net goals all season, the fewest in the league. There are five players in the ECHL with more empty nets goals than Allen's team total. Tulsa's Eddie Matsushima, who took the holding penalty late in the third period that gave Allen the opportunity to score an empty net goal, has five empty net goals by himself. Last season Allen had 11 empty net goals led by Jack Combs with four.
- Mark Sinclair stopped 34 of 36 shots last night and was selected as the #1 star of the game. Sinclair's save percentage in his last three games was .944, .943 and .975.
- With Allen's win and Utah losing last night to Idaho in overtime, the Americans can clinch a playoff spot tonight. If the Americans win tonight they will clinch a playoff spot and third place in the Mountain Division. If that happens Allen will play Idaho in the first round of the playoffs. The Americans will also clinch a playoff spot if they lose in an overtime/shootout and Utah loses or if Utah loses in regulation.
- Tulsa can also clinch a playoff spot tonight if Tulsa wins and Utah loses or if Tulsa loses in overtime/shootout and Utah loses in regulation.
- Here is the game recap from the Tulsa Oilers who have now lost five straight games (0-3-2-0): https://tulsaoilers.com/news/2024/04/late-surge-too-little-in-loss-to-americans
- Here are the video highlights. Notice the last two Allen goals were scored by players going to the net. There were two Allen players at the net on the second goal and on the third goal three Americans had the goalie surrounded, all in front of the Tulsa defense: https://echl.com/videos/tulsa-oilers-vs-allen-americans-april-12-2024
POST GAME COMMENTS
- Assistant coach Aaron Gens and forward Kameron Kielly addressed the season ticket holders after the game. Here are their comments:
"We were proud of our effort tonight and our defensive play. The goal at the end to cut the score to 3-2 was kind of soft, but those type of goals happen every once in a while.".....Gens
"We had a strong effort from all of our guys both offensively and defensively. You can see by how they celebrate they are buying in and coming together. I really like where our team is at right now.".....Gens
"Kielly had a great game with two goals, but what isn't seen by everyone was his defensive play. His support of the puck in the defensive zone and helping out defensively.".....Gens
"It is always nice to contribute. My second round in Allen has been great. The team has been very welcoming and it feels great to be back.".....Kielly
"On my first goal I was in the right place at the right time. Brodzinski made a great shot and I had a little deflection. On the second goal Hardie won a battle at the blue line an took a shot. I just drove the net and the puck was there.".....Kielly
"Both goalies have been playing great and we will need both of them this weekend and into the playoffs. Grant Hebert is day to day with a mid-body injury so we will see how he feels in the morning.".....Gens
TONIGHT'S PREVIEW
- Allen did a lot right last night from scoring first, jumping out to a 3-0 lead, leading after the first period, leading after second period, matching Tulsa in shots (36-36) and allowing just two goals in the game. The Americans record when allowing three or fewer goals this season is 25-7-2-0 (.765).
-The one area that could use improvement is special teams. Allen was 0-4 on the power play last night and has not scored a power play goal in the last six games against Tulsa (0-19). Tulsa was 1-2 last night, has a power play goal in the last two games against Allen and has a power play goal in nine of the 14 games these teams have played this season. Winning the special teams battle tonight would go a long way to getting a victory. On a positive note the Americans stayed out of the penalty box and continued its streak of having more power play opportunities than their opponents. The opponent has not had more power play opportunities than the Americans in the last seven games.
- Two referees are scheduled for the game tonight. John Lindner (#6), who was the referee last night, will be joined by Yannick Jobin-Manseau (#30).
OTHER COMMENTS
- The Toledo at Wheeling game last night was postponed due to flooding of the Ohio River in the area. Wheeling is scheduled to play Cincinnati tonight and that game will be played at the Pittsburgh Penguins training facility in Cranberry, PA. Because of the small capacity only season ticket holders will be able to attend. It is unfortunate since Wheeling can clinch a playoff spot tonight. Here is a press release from the Wheeling Nailers: https://wheelingnailers.com/news/2024/04/nailers-to-face-cincinnati-in-cranberry-on-saturday
- It is undoubtedly the biggest night of the ECHL season with 13 games on the schedule and no fewer than eight teams with a chance to clinch a playoff spot (Worcester, Maine, Orlando, South Carolina, Wheeling, Kalamazoo, Allen, Tulsa). These teams look to join the nine teams that have already qualified (Adirondack, Norfolk, Greenville, Jacksonville, Florida, Toledo, Indy, Kansas City, Idaho). Greenville can clinch the South Division title tonight and join Adirondack, Toledo and Kansas City as the #1 seeds.
- Kansas City and Toledo will enter the playoffs as the hottest two teams in the ECHL. Kansas City has won nine straight games and Toledo has won 12 straight games. If both teams make it to the conference finals it will be a classic series.
- If Allen makes the playoffs and plays Idaho look for the series to be delayed because if you look its facility schedule there is a gymnastics championship scheduled from April 18 - 21. That means the soonest the series can start will be April 22. The advantage for Allen is the AHL completes its schedule on April 20, so if Belleville doesn't make the playoffs you could see Leevi Meriläinen and Tarun Fizer assigned to Allen before the start of the first round against Idaho. Five of the seven teams in Belleville's division make the playoffs and the Senators are currently in fifth place. If Belleville does make the playoffs the first round will be the best of three but dates are not set. It doesn't look good for help from Belleville if the Senators make the playoffs.
- If Allen makes the playoffs and plays Kansas City in the first round the series will start in Kansas City as the Mavericks are already selling ticket s for the first two games (Wednesday and Thursday (April 17 & 18). My reporting has already discovered Allen's first round home games, regardless of the opponent, will be between the 24-28. That means if Allen plays Kansas City on April 17 and 18 in Kansas City the Americans will not play again until the 24th (at the earliest) at home.
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about teams with 50+ wins in a season. The closest Allen ever came to 50 wins was 49 wins in 2016-17 and 48 wins in 2014-15:
Cameras keep failing to follow the puck. Pitiful
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