The Allen Americans were shut out 5-0 by the Tahoe Knight Monsters last night in the opening game of a three-game series. You know it is going to be a long night when the Americans outshot Tahoe 20-8 in the first period and trailed 3-0. The game was over quickly when the Knight Monsters scored twice in the first four minutes of the game (2:14 & 4:07). Allen had plenty of chances, but could not get the puck by rookie goalie Cameron Whitehead, who stopped all 39 Allen shots on the way to his first professional shutout.
What the stats say:
- The game total for shots was even, 39-39, but totals were very different by period. Allen outshot Tahoe 20-8 in the first period. Tahoe outshot Allen 18-9 in the third period.
- Allen's plummeting penalty kill percentage continued its downward trend. The Americans gave up two power-play goals for the third straight game. In the last four games, the penalty kill is 7-19 (63.1%). The overall penalty kill percentage has dropped to 85.0% and is ranked #6 in the league.
- Allen's power play was held scoreless (0-4), snapping a five-game streak of scoring a power play goal. The Americans' power play percentage is at 18.2%, ranked #17 in the league.
- Anytime you give up the first goal of the game, trail after the first period, and trail after the second period, your odds of winning are slim. Allen hit the trifecta last night. The Americans record when giving up the first goals is 5-10-1-0 (.343), when trailing after the first period is 1-10-1-0 (.125), and when trailing after the second period is 2-9-2-0 (.231).
- Marco Costantini gave up three goals on eight shots in the first period. David Tendeck took over to start the second period and stopped 29 of 30 shots.
- Two Allen players received game misconduct penalties. Braidan Simmons-Fischer was given a game misconduct in the second period for continuing an altercation, and Danny Katic was given a game misconduct at the end of the game for charging.
- Here are the game recaps from both teams with the headlines, plus the video highlights:
Allen Americans, "Americans Blanked by Tahoe 5-0": https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/01/americans-blanked-by-tahoe-5-0
Tahoe Knight Monsters, "Tahoe Rings in the New Year with 5-0 Dominating Performance Against Allen": https://knightmonstershockey.com/news/2026/01/tahoe-rings-in-the-new-year-with-5-0-dominating-performance-against-allen
Video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-tahoe-knight-monsters-jan-2-2026
TONIGHT'S PREVIEW
- If the Americans are going to win tonight, it will take a lot more effort at both ends of the ice. To get shutout after a string of wins, averaging more than five goals per game, was the biggest surprise. Have to believe that won't happen again tonight.
- Winning the special teams battle will be a key. The Americans were winning special teams battles every game until recently, in a large part because they were getting more power play opportunities than they were giving up. In the last three games, that has changed. In the last three games, Allen has had nine power play opportunities; their opponents have had 17. Last night, Tahoe had seven power plays and scored on two of them. The Americans were 0-4. Allen has to stay out of the penalty box unless they take a Tahoe player with them. Last night, Allen took 12 penalties for 54 minutes, and Tahoe took five penalties for 13 minutes.
- I asked Allen color analyst, Maurice Fitzgerald, to give me his three keys to the game:
1. Stay out of the penalty box. Tahoe was 2-7, and Allen was 0-4. The Americans can't give Tahoe the upper hand with more chances.
2. More traffic in front of the net from the start of the game. Allen needs to make the Tahoe goalie feel uncomfortable in his own crease by being on top of him. Make him feel smothered and blind by all the traffic in front of him so he can't see the puck. Get those greasy goals, Marty is always talking about.
3. Support the goaltender in our own end. Don't turn the puck over in our own end with sloppy puck handling or passing. Don't leave guys unattended in front of our net.
We showed we can skate with them last night. I expect a different game tonight.
COACH'S COMMENTS
- I had the chance to check in with Coach Martinson this morning to get his thoughts on the game last night and the game tonight:
"Even strength, we had puck possession advantage in all three periods, 58%-42% for the game. We have to stay out of the penalty box. We can't give up seven power play opportunities to a team with a 25.0% power play."
"On the two power play goals, we were either out of position or didn't compete hard enough. We left their best power play scorer open twice on the power play, and it cost us both times."
"In the first period, I thought we could come back because we were playing well. Every mistake we made ended up in our net."
"The five-minute major penalty/game misconduct to Katic for charging, at the end of the game, has been rescinded and changed to a two-minute penalty."
"LeDonne got hurt and will miss the game tonight."
"Tonight, we have to convert some of our chances and stay out of the penalty box."
OTHER COMMENTS
- I am sure many of you remember Bryan Moore, who played for Allen in 2016-17 and 2017-18. Moore was a very skilled forward who was also as tough as nails. He hasn't played in the ECHL since January of 2021. He is pretty much retired from professional hockey, playing a few games in the FPHL and SPHL over the last couple of years. Chad Costello, who played with Moore, signed Bryan for one game on New Year's Eve when Greenville was shorthanded. Moore lives in Charlotte, about 100 miles from Greenville. In typical Moore fashion, he had a double minor penalty for roughing in the game. Here is how Moore ranks all-time in Allen Americans stats:
- 46th - games played (101)
- 23rd - points (99)
- 19th - goals (48)
- 9th - points per game (.98), minimum 100 games played
- 5th - penalty minutes (331)
Moore is tied (with Hank Crone) for the all-time Allen record for most hat tricks in a single season with three. In 2016-17, Moore scored hat-tricks on January 13, January 20, and March 29.
- The Mountain Division played a couple of cross-division games last night, which ended with five of eight teams winning. The top three teams (Idaho, Kansas City, Tahoe) all won, along with Tulsa and Wichita. The losing teams were Allen, Rapid City, and Utah. Here are the standings with penalty minutes in parentheses:
- .714 - Kansas City (297)
- .683 - Idaho (485)
- .597 - Tahoe (370
- .554 - Allen (442)
- .518 - Wichita (261)
- .500 - Utah (280)
- .483 - Rapid City (326)
- .357 - Tulsa (408)
- With the 5-0 loss last night, the question arises: what will the Americans have to do to compete with the teams ahead of them in the standings? Allen will pass the 40% mark in the season tonight, and thus far, has not done well against the top three teams: Kansas City, Idaho, and Toledo. Allen's record against these teams is 0-6-1-0 (.071). The Americans have done well against the teams below them in the standings, Wichita, Utah, Rapid City, and Tulsa. Allen's record against these teams is 14-5-2-0 (.714). If Allen is going to be competitive in the playoffs, the Americans will have to show they can win against the top teams.
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about overall, home, and road records by points percentage. Allen is ranked #15 (.554) overall, ranked #10 (.654) at home, and ranked #21 (.467) on the road:
Here are the five best ECHL teams, overall, at home, and on the road by points percentage. The team’s overall ranking is in parentheses: Atlanta and Toledo are the only teams on all three lists:
The ECHL should be embarrassed by the quality of refereeing last night. Tahoe got away with everything. Very lopsided. Atleast one of the refs were way out of their league in this game. I suspect she will be a part of the 3 games, however, I hope not.
ReplyDeleteNeeds an immediate transfer to the PWHL.
DeleteWhy would she be promoted?
DeleteShe's refereed at that level before, get her away from the ECHL... FAST!
DeleteHow the heck did she ever get a chance in the ECHL? Is she a superstar ref in the PWHL? Or is this a feel good, “let’s promote a woman because people will think more of the ECHL this” type of event?
DeleteTo be transparent, I don’t give a crap if you’re a man or a woman for a ref but you better be up to being great and making reasonable calls that go both ways. You can’t tell me that only one team honestly gets all of the penalties.
One team gets ALL the penalties all the time Homer! Especially when they deserve them
DeleteSeems Marty agrees with us!!
DeleteHeck, even Tahoe isn't happy with her. They are getting the calls...
DeleteBased on last nights game we should come out and kick the absolute $hit out of Tahoe tonight.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Let’s go Red tonight!
DeleteFark… tough loss. 12 seconds to go
ReplyDelete