Another NYE Loss for Allen, Game Recap, Video Highlights, The Week Ahead, All-Time NYE Record, ECHL 20 Point Scorers and More

The Allen Americans have been plagued by inconsistency this season where they play great one night but not the next. The Americans longest winning streak all season is just two games, which they have accomplished twice, the first week of the season and in early November.

– After what coach Costello described as the Americans best game of the season on Friday night, last night a CUTX crowd of 3783 watched as Allen lost to Wichita 7-3. Logan Flodell got the start in goal, gave up four goals on 16 shots (.750 save percentage) and was replace by Luke Peressini at the 11:11 mark of the second period. Allen didn’t fare much better with Peressini in goal during final 28:49 of the game. Peressini’s stats were 17 shots and 14 saves for a .824 save percentage.

– Wichita scored first on a power play goal scored by Michal Stinil who leads the ECHL in power play points. Allen had no answer for Stinil who went on to score a hat trick in the game. Scoring first was a key in the series against Wichita, the team that scored first won all three games.

–  Allen tied the score 1-1 late in the first period (18:03) when Jared Bethune deflected a Kris Myllari shot into the goal. Allen out shot Wichita 11-6 in the first period so even though the score was tied 1-1 it looked like Allen was in control.

– The second period proved to be Allen’s undoing. Wichita scored 90 seconds into the period, but Allen responded with a Colton Hargrove shorthanded goal to tie the score 2-2. Just 43 seconds after Hargrove’s goal the Thunder scored again to take a 3-2 lead and by the end of the period Wichita had a 5-3 lead. Two more unanswered goals in the third period made the final score 7-3.

– Allen was 1-5 on the power play last night, Wichita was 2-5. Despite scoring two shorthand goals in the series with Wichita the Americans struggled killing penalties. The Thunder scored multiple power play goals in all three games for a total of 7-19 which is 36.8%. Too many penalties were an Achilles heel for Allen. The Americans were 3-17 (17.6%) on the power play in the series.

– Goal scorers for Allen were Jared Bethune (2), Colton Hargrove (5) and Jack Combs (17). Combs is now #3 in the ECHL in goals, #7 in points. Here are the video highlights: https://www.echl.com/en/video/2023/1/wichita-thunder-vs-allen-americans—dec-31-2022-CrQhtMha

– Here is the game recap issued by the Wichita Thunder with a very detailed breakdown of the game: https://www.wichitathunder.com/en/news/thunder-offense-lights-up-allen-on-new-year-s-eve

– Here is the game recap issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/game-recap-americans-close-2022-with-a-loss/

– Allen played short two players last night with just 15 skaters. Defenseman Dalton Gally was serving a one game suspension for an uncalled boarding penalty in the game on Friday. I have had a lot of questions why Mikael Robidoux wasn’t suspended for the match penalty he received at the end of the game on Friday. My reporting is there was not any video that showed the entire incident, so the league had nothing to review. Robidoux probably caught a break because of the lack of video of the incident.

– Allen’s schedule gets a little schizophrenic over the next 12 days with seven games. The good news is all games are against Allen’s closest geographical rivals. It all gets started tomorrow when Allen will practice in the morning and then leave for Kansas City early in the afternoon. Here is the schedule:

• Tuesday at Kansas City
• Friday at Kansas City
• Saturday at Tulsa
• Sunday at home against Kansas City
• Wednesday at home against Tulsa
• Friday at Wichita
• Saturday at Wichita

OTHER COMMENTS

– Look for Allen to continue to make roster changes as the team strives to play more consistent hockey. From my conversations with coach Costello, those changes will come sooner rather than later.

– The Allen Americans New Year’s Eve (NYE) game has become a tradition. In 2009-10 Allen played on the road and in 2015-16 they did not play on NYE, but every other season the Americans have played at home. The Americans NYE fortunes have changed recently culminating with the 7-3 loss to Wichita last night. In the first seven NYE games Allen was 7-0. Since 2017-18 the Americans are 1-5. Here are the all-time NYE results:

• 2022-23 – Lost at Wichita at home 7-3
• 2021-22 – Beat Idaho at home 4-1
• 2020-21 – Lost to Wichita at home 7-2
• 2019-20 – Lost to Idaho at home 6-5
• 2018-19 – Lost to Tulsa at home 3-1
• 2017-18 – Lost to Wichita at home 4-2
• 2016-17 – Beat Utah at home 8-4
• 2015-16 – Did Not Play
• 2014-15 – Beat Rapid City at home 5-3
• 2013-14 – Beat Wichita at home 5-3
• 2012-13 – Beat Quad City at home 4-0
• 2011-12 – Beat Laredo at home 3-2
• 2010-11 – Beat Tulsa at home 10-1
• 2009-10 – Beat Wichita on road 3-1

– It sounds like a broken record, but Idaho won again last night, beating Utah 3-0 in Utah. It was Idaho’s 11th straight win. The Steelheads had a streak of seven straight wins before the current streak which means they have won 18 of 19 games. It is hard to describe just how much better Idaho has been than any another team in the ECHL but here is a stat that helps. Idaho scores an average of 4.41 goals per game, .49 goals per game more than any other team. Idaho allows an average of 1.86 goals per game, .75 goals per game fewer than any other team. The one caveat in Idaho’s great record is it has played 29 games with 21 of them (72%) coming against just two teams. Idaho has played Utah 12 times (10-2-0-0) and Rapid City nine times (7-1-0-1). This week Idaho visits second place Wichita for three games which will be a big test, but then the following week the Steelheads play Utah three more times.– Allen’s 7-3 loss last night was the second worst loss of the season. The Americans lost at home to Rapid City on December 3 by a score of 8-2.DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about ECHL teams with the most 20-point scorers. Allen makes the list with four (Combs, Crone, Finlay, Brown). Allen also has two of the ECHL’s 15 players with 30 points. Combs and Crone each have 33 points:ECHL teams with the most 20-point scorers this season:9 – Idaho6 – Newfoundland6 – Indy6 – Cincinnati6 – Rapid City5 – Kansas City5 – Fort Wayne5 – Wichita5 – Worcester4 – Allen4 – Reading4 – Maine4 – Atlanta4 – Jacksonville– Iowa, Kalamazoo and Norfolk are the only ECHL teams without a 20 point scorer thus far in 2022-23.