Salt Lake City, Utah – The Allen Americans, ECHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators (NHL) and Belleville Senators (AHL), defeated the Utah Grizzlies on Wednesday night 4-1 at the Maverick Center in front of a crowd of 3,113.
The Americans never trailed in this one as Colton Hargrove opened the scoring with his 18th of the season in the opening period from Jack Combs and Liam Finlay at the 9:26 mark. The lead didn’t last long as Utah tied the game 28 seconds later, as Brandon Cutler put a rebound into the Allen net for his 10th of the season. The game remained even at the end of the first period.
The Americans went right back on top in the second frame as Liam Finlay buried his 19th of the year from Jack Combs and Xavier Bernard to put the Americans up 2-1. Late in the second period the Americans went up by two goals as Grant Hebert scored his third of the season unassisted.
The game remained that way until late in third period as the Americans scored into an empty net as Liam Finlay hit Colby McAuley for his first of the year at the 18:05 mark. The Americans won the opening game of the three-game series 4-1.
Americans Quotes:
Liam Finlay:” I’m super proud of the guys tonight. It was a big win for us, especially with Coach Costello in our hearts. It was a great all-around game.”
Aaron Gens: “I loved our effort tonight. Perry was great and made a couple big saves to keep us in the lead. We played smart defensively the whole game, and let our offense take care of itself. We’re getting better every game, so we love where we’re at right now.”
Three Stars:1. ALN – L. Finlay2. ALN – C. Perry3. ALN – J. Combs
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