Allen Wins in OT, Game Recap, Tonight's Preview and Lineup, Martinson Quotes, Vikman's Scoring Prowess and More

 

The Allen Americans beat the New Mexico Goathead 4-3 in overtime last night and need a win tonight in the rubber match to take the series. It took a big comeback for the Americans to get the game to overtime:

• New Mexico scored the only two goals of the first period and added a third early in the second period (1:48) to put Allen in a 3-0 hole. To add insult to injury, two of the Goatheads' goals were scored by players who played for Allen last season, Maksim Barbashev and Jake Chiasson. FYI, Chiasson has been recalled by Colorado (AHL) and won't be in the Goatheads' lineup tonight.
• Allen cut the score to 3-1 at 7:00 of the second period, scoring a power-play goal on the first opportunity with the changed power play. Sam Lipkin scored his fourth goal of the season. Allen finished the period trailing 3-1.
• Allen had two power-play opportunities at 11:30 and 15:02 of the third period and didn't convert on either of them. It looked like the Americans were headed for defeat. However, six seconds after the penalty expired (17:08), Lukas Sillinger made a perfect saucer pass to Nolan Kneen, who was streaking to the net, and Kneen went top shelf to cut the score to 3-2 and give Allen life. Vikman also had an assist on the goal.
• With Allen's goalie pulled, the Goatheads took a hooking penalty with 69 seconds remaining in the game to set up a 6-on-4 power play. 35 seconds remained in the game when Luke Mistelbacher made a pass from the corner to the far side of the net, where Spencer Asuchak was in his usual spot to deflect the puck into the net to send the game to overtime.
• If you were watching the broadcast when the teams were taking the short break before overtime started, you noticed Coach Martinson was not talking strategy with the players gathered around. He was standing calmly behind the bench, and what was he saying? I asked him that when I talked to him this afternoon; he said, "All I was saying was don't gamble, don't gamble, don't gamble."
• As it turned out, the Goatheads gambled, which led to a 2-on-1 and an Allen goal 18 seconds into the overtime. The play was started by Vikman, who passed to Lipkin, who made a great play, and De St. Phalle tapped in the rebound to finish off a great comeback win.

 

- Here is game recap from the Allen Americans with more details: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/11/game-recap-overtime-thriller

 

- Some quotes from Coach Martinson on the game last night and the game tonight:

"The way the game went last night reminded me of the championship years where we never felt we were out of a game. The two goals in the last couple of minutes to get us to overtime showed a lot of effort, and it paid off. Sometimes when you get down 3-0, players give up and start cheating for offense. What I saw last night was a team that didn't give up."

"Our power play is definitely improving with the changes we have made and was a big factor tonight, going 2-5."

"You don't want to force things in overtime because that leads to problems. That is what happened to them. There was a play at the net, and they had two guys low, and we ended up with a 2-on-1."

"Lipkin broke his stick off the OT faceoff and came to the bench and grabbed Kidney's stick, so he had a stick that had been scoring a lot of goals." That delay because of the broken stick put him in a great position once they had two guys behind the net. Vikman passed to Lipkin, and he was off to the races." 

"The key for the game tonight is to get off to a better start. It would be nice to score the first goal for a change. I also look for our special teams to do well."  

"Sam Sedley will not play tonight after an injury in the game last night." 

"I traded Rinaldi to Wichita today for futures, which will be a player at the trade deadline."  

 

- Here is the lineup for tonight:     

Forwards

91 Gildon - 21 Kidney - 22 Mistelbacher 

29 Watts - 28 Lipkin - 14 De St. Phalle

94 Matikka - 42 Shantz - 43 Nordh

21 Sillinger  - 26 Asuchak - 9 Coughlin

 

Defense

2 Warmuth - 8 Uens

24 Decker - 27 Kneen

86 Anania - 19 Greco

 

Goalies

32 Vikman

33 McKiernan (backup)

 

 

- Here are the top five in points for Allen in the first two games of this series:

• 3 points (1G, 2A) - De St. Phalle
• 3 points (1G, 2A) - Lipkin
• 2 points (1G, 1A) - Mistelbacher
• 2 points (0G, 2A) - Sedley
• 2 points (0G, 2A) - Vikman 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Allen goalie Jesper Vikman had a rare 2-assist game last night, including on the game-winning overtime goal in a 4-3 win in New Mexico.

 

- Vikman is also on the rare list of 17 ECHL goalies who have scored a goal. Playing for Tahoe on January 5, 2025, Vikman scored a goal at Maine.

 

- The ECHL all-time record for goalie assists in a game is three, held by Hall of Fame goalie Jason Saal. Playing for the Augusta Lynx, Saal had three assists is a game against the Greenville Grrrowl on December 12, 2003.