Kansas City, MO – The Allen Americans, ECHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators (NHL) and Belleville Senators (AHL), beat the Kansas City Mavericks on Friday night in Missouri 2-1 behind a great performance from Americans goalie Luke Peressini.
The Americans scored one goal in the first period, Jack Combs with his 18th of the season, and one in the second frame, Ryan Gagnon, his 4th of the year which would be all the Americans would need in a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Mavericks.
The Americans went 0-for-3 on the power play, while Kansas City cashed in on one of four opportunities going 1-for-4.
Luke Peressini was the best player on the ice for either team stopping 35 of 36 Kansas City shots on net that included all 16 that he faced in the second period.
Zach Pochiro returned to the Americans lineup after missing Tuesday night’s game serving his one-game suspension. Xavier Bernard made his Allen debut on Friday after being assigned to Allen by Ottawa from Belleville on Thursday.
Grant Hebert will make his Americans debut on Sunday after signing his contract yesterday. LA Grissom, Liam Finlay and Dalton Skelly were all scratched Friday for the Americans.
Postgame Quotes:
Chad Costello: “I’m proud of the team’s effort tonight. We played with desperation. A lot of players contributed, and we played team defense. Peressini was great in net.”
Colton Hargrove: “I thought we started out slow and picked it up towards the end of the first period. We scored some timely goals, but there’s still work to be done. We’re improving every game. Hopefully we can turn this into a nice win streak.”
Three Stars:1. ALN – R. Gagnon2. ALN – L. Peressini3. ALN – J. Combs