WICHITA TAKES GAME 1 OF A THREE-GAME SERIES

Americans Box Score

Wichita, Kansas – The Allen Americans, ECHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators (NHL), dropped the first of three games against the Wichita Thunder, losing to boys from Kansas on Wednesday night 5-2, in front of 3,655 fans at Intrust Bank Arena.

The game remained scoreless through almost thirty minutes of action. Then Wichita went to work on the power play, scoring two goals in just over a minute of action to take a 2-0 lead. The Americans didn’t get their first shot of the second frame until the 14:01 mark of the period when Zach Massicotte fired home his third of the season to cut the lead to 2-1. Wichita answered 41 seconds later to reclaim their two-goal lead. That goal turned out to be the game winner for the Thunder who dominated the Americans in shots 29-12 through two periods of play.

Wichita outscored the Americans 2-1 in the third period to claim the three-goal victory. It was Wichita’s 12th home win of the season (12-3-1). The loss dropped the Americans to 8-16-1 overall and 5-10-0 on the road this season.

“When you don’t get shots on net, you’re not going to win games,” said Americans Head Coach Chad Costello. “It’s frustrating, but fixable. We must work harder and outwork our opponents. There are not enough guys out there giving us a full effort.”

LA Grissom scored his second career goal on Wednesday night, following up a Mikael Robidoux shot in the third period. Robidoux extended his point streak to three games with an assist.

Earlier on Wednesday, the ECHL announced the All-Star Roster for the game coming up in Norfolk next month. Liam Finlay was selected to represent Allen. Finlay could return to the Allen lineup on Friday when the Americans host Wichita at 7:05 pm.

Three Stars:1. WIC – J. Dickman2. WIC – B. Watts3. ALN – C. Butcher