Allen Hangs on for Big Road Win, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Costello Comments, Gaining Ground in the Division, ECHL Most Prolific Scorers and More

The Allen Americans earned a road trip split with a 5-4 victory in Kansas City before a Sunday afternoon crowd of 3240 at Cable Dahmer Arena. Except for two minutes late in the second period the Americans were in control and met all the three keys to the game. Allen scored first, outshot the Mavericks and won the special team’s battle.

– Allen was the more rested team having not played on Saturday while Kansas City had to travel to Wichita where it lost 7-1. One the other hand Allen was playing shorthanded with just 14 skaters. The rested Americans jumped on the Mavericks in the first period with wave after wave of great scoring opportunities. Allen scored three times (Grant Hebert, Liam Finlay, Chad Butcher) but it could have easily been five or six. With a 3-0 lead at the first intermission, it looked like it would be an easy win for Allen.

– Allen added a fourth goal (Jared Bethune) early in the second period and it started to look like the Americans would do to the Mavericks what they did in Allen on January 8. That was the game Kansas City didn’t play on a Saturday and was waiting in Allen while the Americans had to play in Tulsa. The well-rested Mavericks spanked the Americans 8-1.

– Any thought of a blowout disappeared late in the second period when Kansas City scored three times in less than two minutes. A safe 4-0 lead turned into a nailbiter in 108 seconds. Allen took the 4-3 lead into the second intermission.

– The Americans regrouped and took a 5-3 lead early in the third period when Hank Crone took a great pass from Colton Hargove and buried the puck. The Mavericks fought back again with a power play goal at 12:34 to cut the score to 5-4. Allen did a great job at the end of the game and the Mavericks had trouble getting their goalie to the bench for an extra skater. Allen outshot Kansas City 4-1 in the last five minutes of the game.

– Goal scorers for Allen were Grant Hebert (1), Liam Finlay (13), Chad Butcher (3), Jared Bethune (3) and Hank Crone (19). Allen was 2-5 on the power play (Hebert, Bethune). Liam Finlay, Jack Combs and Colby MacAuley had two assists. Every forward in the lineup contributed at least one point. Here are the video highlights with all nine goals: https://www.echl.com/en/video/2023/1/allen-americans-vs-kansas-city-mavericks—jan-22-2023-6GfbEn3N

– Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/americans-hold-on-for-5-4-victory-in-kansas-city/

CHAD COSTELLO COACH’S COMMENTS

“We came out great to the start the game. We had a lot of energy and a lot of opportunities that gave us a 3-0 lead.”

“We had about a five-minute lull late in the second period that let them back in the game. A missed call led directly to a goal and a few bad bounces we didn’t react to well. You never want to see a bad stretch like that, but we reacted well.”

“I was pleased the way the guys bounced back in the third period.”

“When the lineup is shorthanded like tonight due to suspensions and injuries it takes everyone to win a road game. That is what we got tonight.”

OTHER COMMENTS

– The depth scoring in the game last night was a big factor. Hebert scored his first pro goal, Bethune and Butcher their third of the season. If that continues Allen will be tough to beat. The top scorers continue to lead the way.

• Hank Crone – Crone had the game winning goal and extended his point streak to nine games (5G, 9A). He has points in 12 of his last 13 games (7G, 12A). Hank is now tied for the ECHL rookie scoring lead with 47 points.
• Colton Hargrove – Hargrove had two great assists last night to extend his point scoring streak to 11 games. It is the longest current point streak in the ECHL. In the 11 games, Hargrove has 16 points (10G, 6A). Colton has points in 15 of his last 16 games with a total of 22 points (11G, 11A).
• Jack Combs – Combs leads the Americans with 20 goals. Only four ECHL players have 20+ goals. Jack has points in 10 of the last 13 games with a total of 18 points (7G, 11A).
• Liam Finlay – Finlay recently missed three weeks with an injury. If you look at average points per game, he is #3 on the team (1.16). In 25 games he has 29 points (13G, 16A). In the last three games he has shown he is back to his old self after the injury with five points (2G, 3A).

– Allen will have another busy week this week and a chance to gain ground in the standings. The Americans have four games with the first three being at home.

• Wednesday, Kansas City at home
• Friday, Tulsa at home
• Saturday. Tulsa at home
• Sunday, Tulsa in Tulsa

– Allen got a split this week but it is so hard to gain any ground in the standings as Mountain Division teams play each other and take turns winning. Allen has been playing good hockey recently, but if you look at points earned in the last 10 games for each team in the division you can see why it is tough to gain any ground. Points earned last 10 games:

• 13 points – Wichita
• 13 points – Rapid City
• 12 points – Allen
• 12 points – Idaho
• 12 points – Kansas City
• 11 points – Utah
• 9 points -Tulsa

As of this morning Allen is six points out the final playoff spot, 10 points out of third place, 18 points out of second place and 28 points out of first place. This week Allen lost a point to second and third place and broke even with the teams in first and fourth place. Shows you why going 6-4-0-0 over the next 10 games (Allen’s record the last 10 games) will unlikely be good enough to gain ground toward the playoffs.– Idaho has lost three of its last five games and has fallen under .800 in points percentage. The Steelheads still lead the ECHL in points percentage but have come down to earth recently. There are four ECHL teams with a point percentage above .700.

• .797 – Idaho
• .724 – Newfoundland
• .714 – South Carolina
• .705 – Indy

–  I have had the question about Kevin Mandolese playing all the games in Belleville recently. He has had to carry the load the last week because Belleville’s other two goalies (Antoine Bibeau & Mads Sogaard) are injured. Belleville lost its three games at home this week to Toronto (twice) and Hershey. It was a tough ask for Mandolese since Toronto leads the AHL North Division and Hershey leads the Atlantic Division. On Wednesday it was a 6-5 shootout loss to Toronto. Mandolese faced 41 shots with a 4.62 GAA and .875 save percentage. Friday night was another loss to Toronto, 4-3. Mandolese faced 31 shots with a 4.09 GAA and .871 save percentage. On Saturday Belleville lost 4-2 to Hershey. Mandolese faced 34 shots with a GAA of 3.05 and save percentage of .905. Belleville plays Wednesday, Friday and Saturday again this week but all games are on the road. Both injured goalies are listed as day to day so it is uncertain if Kevin will get any help this week.DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about the best average points per game in the ECHL. Hank Crone is on the list at 1.31 but not far behind are Jack Combs (1.22) and Liam Finlay (1.16).ECHL’s most prolific scorers this season based on average points per game (minimum 20 games) is dominated by two teams:1.75: Zach O’Brien, Newfoundland1.46: Pavel Gogolev, Newfoundland1.45: Michal Stinil, Wichita1.40: Orrin Centazzo, Newfoundland1.37: Brayden Watts, Wichita1.31: *Hank Crone, Allen*Rookie