Independence, MO – The Allen Americans, ECHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators (NHL), and Belleville Senators (AHL), opened a two-game series on Tuesday night in Kansas City, winning 4-3 in overtime.
The Mavericks jumped on the board first in the opening frame as Luke Stevens put in a rebound past Americans netminder Kevin Mandolese for his second of the season on the power play to give Kansas City a 1-0 lead. The Americans bounced back quickly with a pair of goals of their own. Aidan Brown took a pass from Jack Combs firing the puck into the net for his 11th of the season to even the game at 1-1. Then one minute and twenty seconds later Hank Crone found Colton Hargrove for his sixth of the year to put the Americans up 2-1. Allen had the advantage in shots 11-10 after the first period.
Kansas City had the only goal of the second frame. Cole Koskey put in a rebound past Kevin Mandolese for his 12th of the season at 8:01 of the second period. That would stand as the only goal of the period with the game all even after 40 minutes of action.
Each team scored in the third period. Colton Hargrove, who is swinging a hot stick of late, scored his second goal of the night and seventh of the season to put Allen back on top 3-2. As they did in the second period, Kansas City came back to tie the game again on Hugo Roy’s first of the season at 12:35 of the final frame.
The game would head to overtime tied at 3-3, and it would be the Americans making Kansas City pay for a costly turnover. Hank Crone in on a two-on-one break, scored his 15th of the season to give the Americans the overtime win and start the road trip at 1-0.
Postgame Quotes:
Chad Costello: “We had a lot of players who contributed tonight. Mando (Kevin Mandolese) was solid again in net. We need to continue to work on playing this way more consistently. I’m proud of the team’s effort. This was a big road win.”
Colton Hargrove: “It was a big bounce back game for our team tonight after a frustrating loss to Wichita last Saturday. I thought we played with a little more confidence tonight, and we played the right way in all three zones for most of the game.”
Three Stars:1. ALN – H. Crone2. ALN – C. Hargrove3. KC – H. Roy
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