Penalties Tell the Story as Allen Splits with Wichita, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Good and Bad, Home Opener Attendance and More

The Allen Americans ended up splitting with the Wichita Thunder this weekend, losing before 4065 fans on Sunday afternoon by the same 2-1 score they won by on Saturday. The story of the game was penalties. Too many on Allen’s part which led to both of Wichita’s goals. The Thunder were 2-6 on the power play and the Americans were 0-1.

– Allen’s lone goal was scored even strength midway through the second period by Jack Combs, who tallied two of the three goals the Americans scored over the weekend.

–  Here are two game recaps with the details:

• From the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/americans-split-weekend-series/
• From the Wichita Thunder: https://www.wichitathunder.com/en/news/fournier-watts-power-thunder-past-americans

– Here is a link to the video highlights: https://www.echl.com/en/video/2022/10/wichita-thunder-vs-allen-americans—oct-30-2022-xnXwQNII

– The good news from the weekend:

• Allen out shot Wichita in both games by a total of 66-46. This was a weak link last season when Allen was ranked #26 in the ECHL in shots allowed.
• Allen allowed just three goals in two games. The Americans will not lose many games this season when allowing one or two goals per game. Last season Allen’s record when allowing two or fewer goals was 21-2-1-0.
• Both goalies were great. Peressini stopped 21 of 22 shots on Saturday for a save percentage of .955. Flodell stopped 22 of 24 shots on Sunday for a save percentage of .917.

– The bad news from the weekend:

• Allen took too many penalties which led to 11 Wichita power play opportunities while the Americans had just four. Allen is now averaging over eight minor penalties per game, the highest average in the ECHL.
• Allen scored just three goals in two games. Averaging 1.5 goals per game will not win many games. Last season Allen’s record when scoring two or fewer goals was 1-20-3-1.
• Allen gave up the first goal on Sunday and lost the game. The Americans are a perfect 2-0 this season when they score first and a perfect 0-2 when they give up the first goal.

–  I mentioned yesterday the Allen home opener drew the second-best attendance for any home opener in franchise history. I was asked about the some of the home opener attendance in other years, so here it is for all years:

• 2009-10: 5808
• 2010-11: 3151
• 2011-12: 3872
• 2012-13: 4853
• 2013-14: 4911*
• 2014-15: 5006*
• 2015-16: 4745*
• 2016-17: 5062*
• 2017-18: 4871
• 2018-19: 5302
• 2019-20: 4825
• 2020-21: 2032
• 2021-22: 5443
• 2022-23: 5529

*Home openers following championship seasons.

– The Allen coaching staff’s goal for the team is improving every day and they will have plenty of time to do just that, as the team has only one game from today until November 9. The one game is Friday when the Americans travel to Wichita. There is always plenty to work on early in the season, but practice time will soon become scarce. From November 16 through December 31, Allen plays 19 games and travels to Cincinnati, Fort Wayne, Idaho, Reading, Tulsa and Wichita and also has a three-day Christmas break. It becomes almost impossible to fit in many practices with so many games and so much travel.

– The Mountain Division remains the tightest of the four ECHL Divisions. Two divisions (North & Central) still have undefeated teams and winless teams. Here are the Mountain Division points percentages for each team. I use points percentage instead of points to account for the unequal number of games played.

• .750 – Idaho
• .667 – Kansas City
• .625 – Wichita
• .500 – Allen
• .500 – Rapid City
• .500 – Utah
• .333 – Tulsa

DID YOU KNOW: After two weekends just four ECHL teams remain undefeated. Here is their 2021-22 overall regular season points percentage ranking and playoff results:5-0-0-0: Newfoundland, 3rd, lost in conference final5-0-0-0: Worcester, 21st, missed playoffs4-0-0-0: Savannah, new franchise in 2022-234-0-0-0: Cincinnati, 14th, lost in 1st roundHow rare are these win streaks?Newfoundland – all last season the Growlers had two-win streaks that exceeded five games.Worcester – all last season the Railers had no win streaks that exceeded five games. They had one five game win streak.Cincinnati – All last season the Cyclones had just one win streak that exceeded three games. They had one five game win streak.