Saturday, January 23, 2016

Allen Beats Wichita 4-3 in OT, Game Recap, Martinson Post Game Comments, Tonight's Preview

For Allen fans the game last night was deja vu all over again but the roles were reversed. For the third straight game, the Americans were tied with their opponent after regulation time, for the third straight game the team that took a lead 2-0 lost the game, and for the third straight game the final score was 4-3. After taking 2-0 leads in their last two games (against Cincinnati) only to end up losing, last night the Americans wisely spotted Wichita a 2-0 lead and then came back and won the game in overtime.

If you are coach Martinson there were a lot of things not to like about the game but anytime you can get two points on the road after being down 2-0 is a good night. Here are the positives from the 4-3 overtime win.

- Allen continued to dominate Wichita on special teams. After giving up the first two goals to the Thunder, the Americans mounted a comeback with their special teams. A power play goal by Greger Hanson (6) and a shorthanded goal by Chris Crane (8) tied the score 2-2 at the 15:00 mark of the second period.

- Allen was perfect on the penalty kill (0-3) and has not allowed Wichita a power play goal in any of the five games they have played this season (0-17).

- After trailing 3-2 at the end of the second period the Americans scored quickly in the third period on a goal by Chris Crane (9). Crane was maybe the hardest working guy on the ice last night. 

- Rick Pinkston got the game winner at the 1:42 mark of overtime on a great pass from Gary Steffes. Pinkston has just two goals this season but has the flair for the dramatic. His other goal was a shorthanded goal against Rapid City back in November.

- Allen came into this game ranked #26 in the league in average shots on goal (27.53). They had 41 shots on goal last night. Greger Hanson only scored one goal but had an amazing 11 shots.

- Joel Rumpel came up big time and time again as Wichita had a number of quality shots.

The teams meet again tonight (7:05) and I will be at the game. Will be spending some time with Tommy Daniels on his radio broadcast, hope to try live tweeting for the first time, and hope to meet a few Wichita fans who read the blog or are active on social media. If any Wichita fans see an old fat guy in blue jeans, carrying a burnt orange and gray back pack, please stop me and say hi. Would love to meet you.


STEVE MARTINSON'S POST GAME COMMENTS

- The goals that Wichita scored were tough to watch. There was too much thinking about scoring and not enough thought into defending.

- It is tough on Rumpel when we have our guys in front of the net but we don't pick up the opponents in the slot.

- We made a bad change on their third goal which created a four on two for them.

- The power play was a bit off  but we did manage to get one power play goal and the shorthanded goal by Crane was big.

- You could see the impact of having Hanson back in the lineup. We had 41 shots on goal and Hanson had  11.

- We had a lot of chances right in front of their net. I look for a better game tomorrow night.


OTHER COMMENTS

- Not much change from yesterday but for you stat geeks here is the updated info with last night's game included:

-  Here is a comparison between Allen and Wichita:

                                     ALLEN                               WICHITA

Team Record              22-14-2-1 (47 points)             9-23-4-4 (26 points)
Division Ranking         2nd - Central                         4th - Central
Conference Ranking   4th - Western                        14th - Western
League Ranking         9th                                        28th
Home Record             9-6-2-1                                 5-9-2-3
Road Record             13-8-0-0                                4-14-2-1
Last Ten Games         6-2-1-1                                  2-4-3-1
Last Game                 4-3 W (Wichita)                       4-3 L (Allen)
Goals For                  115                                        79
Goals Against            112                                        137
Power Play                22.1% (34/154)                      9.0% (14/156)
Penalty Kill                 85.6% (22/153)                      82.9% (32/187)
Most PIM's                 Stevenson (74)                       Milan (59)
Leading Scorer          Costello (15-41-56)                 Lowe (6-14-20)



-  Here is how Allen and Wichita rank in the ECHL in some statistical categories:

Penalty Minutes Per Game: Allen 3rd (17.10) - Wichita 11th (14.88)
Goals Scored Per Game: Allen 9th (2.95) - Wichita 28th (1.98)
Goals Allowed Per Game: Allen 15th (2.87) - Wichita 27th (3.43)
Shots For Per Game: Allen 24th (27.87) - Wichita 27th (26.35)
Shots Against Per Game: Allen 15th (30.28) - Wichita 20th (30.93)
Power Play Percentage: Allen 2nd (22.1%) - Wichita 28th (9.0%)
Penalty Kill Percentage: Allen 8th (85.6%) - Wichita 19th (82.9%)

- It was great to see so many players with multi-point games. Steffes, Costello, Hanson and Crane all had two points.

- David Makowski had an assist last night to keep his scoring streak alive and has now scored in six straight games and nine of his last ten. In the last ten games David has 13 points (3 goals 10 assists).

- With two assists last night Chad Costello has also scored in nine of the last ten games (4 goals 14 assists). He has a five game scoring streak.

- The keys to the game tonight include continuing the special teams dominance and cutting down on the defensive lapses that gave Wichita so many quality shots last night. The Americans need to keep up the pressure exhibited on offense that led to 41 shots.. If Allen can accomplish these three goals they should be able to get a regulation win for the first time in four games.

- Officials scheduled for the game are referee Andy Howard (#2) and linesmen Chuck Schamel (#97) and Eric Contino (#92).


DID YOU KNOW: There are only four players on the current Allen roster who have a positive plus/minus and it is mostly the young guys. Here is the list:
+6   Danny Federico
+5  Greger Hanson
+3  Rick Pinkston
+1  David Makowski

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