The cardiac kids did it again last night, scoring late in the game to force extra time and winning in overtime. Allen came away with a 2-1 victory over the Adirondack Thunder. It was the fourth straight extra time win for the Americans, the third straight late game comeback and back to back wins over Adirondack. Here are some stats that tell the story of this amazing four game extra time Allen Americans win streak:
- In Allen's first 64 games this season it won three extra time games.
- In Allen's last four games it has won four extra time games.
- In the four extra rimes wins the Americans have given up the first goal in all four games.
- In the last three wins the Americans have scored no goals in the first or second period and have trailed after the second period in all three games.
- In the last three wins Allen has scored a grand total of four goals in regulation time, an average of 1.33 goals per game.
- In the last three wins Allen has scored all four of its goals late in the third period (13:55, 15:51, 16:48, 17:17).
- In the last three wins Allen has given up a total of four goals.
- Allen has won six games all season when trailing after the second period and have now won three straight.
- With four straight extra time wins Allen now has the second best extra time record in the ECHL with a 5-2 overtime record and 2-1 shootout record. Allen's extra time points percentage is .700.
- In Allen's four straight extra time wins goalies Marco Costantini and Mark Sinclair have combined for 141 saves on 148 shots for a save percentage of .953.
- The game last night was scoreless until the 5:22 mark of the second period when Adirondack took the lead on a power play goal. The Americans played a much better first period than Friday night (shots were 12-12) but had nothing to show for it. Adirondack controlled the second period outshooting Allen 15-8. Even though Allen trailed 1-0 after the second period there was plenty of optimism after the Americans came back from a 2-0 deficit late in the game Friday night.
- It took until there was 4:09 left in the game for Allen to get on the scoreboard and tie the game. Liam Finlay put in a rebound for his 11th goal of the season. If you watch the replay McAuley and Gagnon were both going to the net and collided right at the side of the crease. Adirondack had all five players around the net but they were caught watching the puck and the two Allen players on the side of the net. Finlay skated in behind the mess of players as the puck bounced out and he put the puck in the net to force overtime.
- It took two minutes and 13 seconds into overtime for Allen to take its first shot but it was a big one. Kris Myllari was the hero taking a pass in the slot from Hank Crone (behind the goal line) and buried the puck. It was fitting the captain got the game winning goal. He left the ice for repairs in the second period after diving on the ice to clear a puck and taking a skate boot and skate blade to the face. He returned for the third period wearing a face mask. A gutsy performance by Kris and deserving of his recognition as the #1 star of the game. The goal was his 10th of the season and to go along with his team leading 36 assists.
- Here are the game recaps and video highlights:
- Allen Americans game recap: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/04/another-fantastic-finish-in-allen
- Adirondack Thunder game recap: https://echlthunder.com/news/2024/04/thunder-lose-lead-in-2-1-ot-loss-to-allen
- Video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/adirondack-thunder-vs-allen-americans-april-6-2024
- I had a chance to check in with coach Costello after the game and get his thoughts:
"I liked how we played in the first period but after the first period I thought they were the better team."
"Our power play struggled tonight but the guys stayed positive and never gave up. After scoring twice late in the game last night to tie the score, there was confidence we could get the tying goal ."
"I liked the fact we scored the tying goal when McAuley and Gagnon drove the net. The fancy plays weren't working and it is nice to see us score one of those greasy goals."
"It was great to see Myllari score the overtime winner after getting cut and coming back out with the face mask."
"We got another great goalie performance from Sinclair."
- Game three of this series this afternoon will have two tired teams that have played two overtime games in just over a 24 hour period. The teams are headed back to the rink for a 2:10 pm puck drop this afternoon just 41 hours from the opening puck drop in game one on Friday night. This will definitely be a will over skill type of game.
- With an early start today look for Marco Costantini to be in goal for the Americans and coach Costello continuing to rotate fresh legs into the lineup.
- Where can Allen improve this afternoon? Allen gave up its first power play goal in four games last night and was 0-3 on its own power play opportunities. The Americans have won four straight games and given up the first goal in all four. If you play percentages and know stats always regress to the mean, it is a safe bet if Allen gives up the first goal of the game this afternoon and loses the special teams battle they will lose the game.
OTHER COMMENTS
- With the win last night Allen improved its Saturday night, big crowd, specialty jersey record to 2-7. The curse be damned. With attendance of 5992 last night the Allen average attendance this season is up to 4304, an increase of 788 per game over last season. I heard team president Jonny Mydra talking with Tommy Daniels on the broadcast last night saying the Americans have a chance to have the best year over year percentage attendance increase of any team in the league.
- Had a couple of questions about Allen's four straight overtimes. Can't research everything but here is what I found. Since joining the ECHL in 2014-15 Allen has never participated in four straight extra time games. The Americans have reached three extra time games three times (2015-16, 2017-18, 2022-23). In 2017-18 they won all three of the extra time games. The only recent example I could find of a longer extra time streak was South Carolina in 2020-21. The Stingrays were involved in six straight extra time games losing the first four and winning the last two.
- Once again Allen got some help last night in the standings. Kansas beat Utah 4-3 in overtime after Utah tied the score with less than five seconds remaining in the game. Wichita beat Tulsa 4-0 and Idaho beat Rapid City 4-2. Here are the current standings with maximum possible points in parenthesis:
- 110 points - Kansas City (116)
- 96 points - Idaho (100)
- 66 points - Tulsa (74)
- 66 points - Utah (70)
- 65 points - Allen (73)
- 61 points - Wichita (69)
- 58 points - Rapid City (64)
Maybe we've been looking at the specialty jersey curse in the wrong light. Last night's wizard sweaters were pretty decent looking, whereas most we get are pretty crap. Maybe the team loses because they're embarrassed to be seen in the usual 'special' jersey fare?
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