Allen vs Kansas City Game Six Preview, Allen Last in Playoff PIMS and More

It was a long slog from December for the Allen Americans just to make the Kelly Cup playoffs. Tonight, the Americans are on the precipice of advancing to the elite eight of the Kelly Cup playoffs. Allen has two home elimination games against the Kansas City Mavericks but nobody in Allen wants to see this series go to a seventh game.– It wouldn’t be an Allen game if there weren’t some challenges facing the team. Colby McAuley left game four with an injury and Ty Farmer left game five with an injury. It will be next man up if McAuley and/or Farmer are not ready to go tonight.– What does Allen have to do to come away with the series win tonight? Coach Costello described it best in his post-game comments to me after the win on Saturday. We are a skilled team but, in the playoffs, we need to recognize how we had success is the second period. Keeping it simple, getting the puck in deep and working east to west high. Getting the puck on net with guys in front and making plays in tight off rebounds. It is a big plus we are getting scoring from the defensemen.– The team that scored first lost the last two games but that is unlikely to happen tonight. A good start will be critical for both teams, especially the way the goalies have been playing in this series. Save percentages of .935 (Mandolese) and .925 (Starrett) tells you all you need to know about how tight the game will likely be tonight.– Special teams haven’t been much of a factor in this series but if either team can get its power play going it would be the difference maker. As you will see in the DID YOU KNOW section below the Allen vs Kansas City series has the fewest penalties of any of the first round series. Both teams have struggled on the power play. Allen is ranked 14th of 16 playoff teams with a 10.0% (2-20) power play percentage. Kansas City is dead last with a 7.1% (1-14) power play percentage. If you want to put a positive spin on special teams, Allen is ranked #1 on the penalty kill at 92.9%.– If going 2-20 on the power play wasn’t bad enough for the Americans the power play has given up two shorthanded goals to the Mavericks. That makes the power play a net zero for the series. To be successful in the game tonight and even more so if Allen advances to the second round, the power play will be critical. There is little doubt the second round of the playoffs will be more physical than the series against Kansas City.– Here are the stats on average goals and shots in this series:

• Allen is ranked #12 in average goals scored per game (2.20)
• Kansas City is ranked #15 in average goals scored (2.00)
• Allen is ranked #2 in average goals allowed (2.00)
• Kansas City is ranked #3 in average goals allowed (2.20)
• Allen is ranked #12 in average shots for per game (29.20)
• Kansas City is ranked #10 in average shots per game (31.00)
• Allen is ranked #7 is average shots allowed (31.00)
• Kansas City is ranked #5 in average shots allowed (29.20)

OTHER COMMENTS– Newfoundland shutout Adirondack 3-0 last night to advance to the North Division finals where the Growlers will take on Reading in a rematch of the division finals last season. Like Allen in the first round, Newfoundland (#1 seed) had to start its series with Adirondack on the road in a 3-4 format. The Growlers have the same issue in the second round and will start on the road in Reading in a 3-4 format.– Some ECHL playoff teams release second round dates before they even qualify for the second round. Cincinnati, the #1 seed in the Central Division, is already selling tickets to the second round despite still contesting the first round against Fort Wayne. The Cyclones lead the series 3-2. Allen won’t release second round dates until it advances, but my unofficial reporting is if the Americans win the series against Kansas City, they will start the second round at home, no matter who wins the Idaho vs Utah series.– I am sure most of you saw the Toronto Maple Leafs just became the first team in NHL history to win three overtime games on the road in a single playoff series. The Idaho Steelheads can do Toronto one better. Idaho just won three straight road overtime games against Utah after being down in the series 2-0 and now lead the series 3-2. In 2019 Idaho and Utah were tied in the series 1-1 before the Steelheads won three straight overtime games in Utah to win the series 4-1. Idaho lost in the next round to Tulsa.– How strange is it for the Allen Americans to be the least penalized team in the Kelly Cup playoffs, averaging 8.2 minutes per game? In 2015 when the Americans won their first Kelly Cup, they had almost 100 more PIMS than any other team and averaged 17.0 minutes per game. Allen was #1 in the regular season with 1644 PIMS averaging 22.83 per game.– I had a question about how to pronounce Kevin Mandolese’s name. The best way to get it right is to hear the player say his name. Here is a short video (1 minute) about Kevin’s approach to his mask. He says his name at the end of the video: https://youtu.be/X_lvA2RIIkk– There are three games on tap tonight and all three are elimination games. Here is the ECHL Today with the previews: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2023/5/echl-today-may-1

• #1 seed South Carolina hosts #4 seed Florida. South Carolina trails 3-2 in the series.
• #2 seed Allen hosts #3 seed Kansas City. Allen leads the series 3-2.
• #1 seed Idaho hosts #4 seed Utah. Idaho leads the series 3-2.

DID YOU KNOW: Average combined penalty minutes per game in all eight first round ECHL playoff series (combined number of minor penalties is in parenthesis):56.4 – CIN vs FW (91)33.4 – SC vs FLA (61)32.0 – NFL vs ADK (65)31.5 – TOL vs IND (48)30.0 – JAX vs GVL (65)26.8 – IDH vs UTA (57)23.0 – REA vs MNE (69)19.2 – ALN vs KC (43)– Cincinnati vs Fort Wayne has been off the charts in penalty minutes. They represent 12.5% of the playoff teams. Here is their percentage of PIMS categories:22.5% of total penalty minutes (282 of 1253)18.2% of minor penalties (91 of 499)60.0% of 10-minute misconducts (9 of 15)– Three teams (Newfoundland, Reading and Toledo) have already advanced to the second round of the playoffs.