Photo credit: Christian West
Dallas/Allen, Texas – The Allen Americans, ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, beat the Wichita Thunder 3-1 on Wednesday night at CUTX Event Center in front of a crowd of 2,811.
The Americans opened the scoring in the first frame as Colin Jacobs scored his third of the season from Blake Murray and Kris Myllari at the 13:59 mark of the opening period. The Americans outshot Wichita 12-11.
The second period brought two more goals. Gavin Gould leads the Americans with two shorthanded goals this season. He added to that number Wednesday night by firing home his third shorty of the season and sixth goal of the year from Colin Jacobs at the 11:08 mark. Six and a half minutes later, the lead grew to 3-0 as Kris Myllari scored on the power play completing the goal trifecta for Allen with a shorthanded, even strength, and power play goal.
Wichita broke the Americans shutout in the third as Xavier Pouliot fired a shot from the left circle for his third of the year to make it 3-1. They would get no closer as the Americans held on for a two-goal victory, ending their one-game skid.
“Everyone contributed to the victory,” noted Americans Coach Chad Costello. “Marco (Costantini) played a great game and deserved the shutout. With the opportunities, it could have been 6-1. We need to continue that effort on Friday.”
Marco Costantini had his best game between the pipes stopping 27 of 28 Wichita shots to earn his fourth win of the season (4-2-1-1).
“The boys played great in front of me tonight,” said Americans Goalie Marco Costantini on the Americans postgame show. “This was a big win for us. We worked really hard the entire game.”
The Americans are back at it on Friday night in Tulsa. Allen returns home on Saturday afternoon at 4:10 pm for the O’Reilly McDonald’s game.
Three Stars:
1. ALN - M. Costantini
2. ALN - G. Gould
3. ALN - C. Jacobs
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