Allen, Texas – The Allen Americans, ECHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators (NHL), and Belleville Senators (AHL), beat the Utah Grizzlies on Sunday afternoon 6-3 in front of 2,675 fans at the Classic of Texoma Rink of Red.
The Americans put this one away in the first period outscoring the Grizzlies 5-2. The five goals scored in the opening period, are the most in a period this season.
Colton Hargrove had his fifth, four-point game of the season. Hargrove did all that in less than a period of action. Hargrove was given a game misconduct for an illegal check to the head and a match penalty in the first frame.
Jack Combs had three points in the game to go over the 80-point mark for the season (82).
Liam Finlay scored his 30th goal of the year in the opening period to give the Americans another 30-goal scorer, joining Hank Crone, Colton Hargrove, and Jack Combs.
The game was filled with plenty of penalties. A combined 94 penalty minutes were handed out between the two clubs. Utah went 2-for-9 on the power play, while the Americans went 1-for-3.
Chase Perry made his third straight start picking up the win. He improved to 11-4-1-1 on the season.
Rookie Jakov Novak made his Americans debut scoring his first professional goal on his first and only shot of the game. He finished the game a plus two.
The Americans open a three-game series on Wednesday against Idaho. With the victory the Americans moved into second place in the division.
Americans Postgame Quotes:
Chad Costello: “This was a big series win for our group. Utah is a really good team, so taking five out of six points was big. We have another important series starting on Wednesday with Idaho coming in.”
Chase Perry: “We had a strong team effort today. When the team plays great in front of me like they did today, it makes my job a lot easier. We are feeling good about picking up 5 of 6 points. Now we need to get ready for Idaho.”
Jakov Novak: “A big thanks to my teammates for bringing me in and making me feel comfortable in my first game. Shoutout to Jack Combs and Liam Finley for guiding me on and off the ice.”
Three Stars:1. ALN – C. Hargrove2. ALN – J. Combs3. ALN – J. Novak
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