Dallas/Allen, Texas – The Allen Americans, ECHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators (NHL), and Belleville Senators (AHL) took a step closer to a playoff spot with 3-2 victory on Friday night at CUTX Event Center in front of a crowd just under 5,000 fans in Allen (4,920).
Two first period goals got the Americans headed in the right direction as Blake Murray opened the scoring with his 20th goal of the season at the 3:57 mark of the opening frame. Later in the period Kam Kielly scored his ninth of the season and first in his return to Allen. The Americans took that two-goal lead to the locker room. The shots were even 12-12 after one period.
Kam Kielly scored his second of the game in the second period to give the Americans a 3-0 lead. The Oilers would make it a two-goal game again, scoring at the 9:13 mark as Kyle Crncovic netted his 18th to make it 3-1 Americans. Allen outshot Tulsa 13-11 in the second frame.
The Oilers scored the only goal of the third period as Jaxsen Wiebe tipped a shot past Mark Sinclair to make it a one-goal lead 3-2, however the Americans held on for the victory and jumped Tulsa in the standings moving alone into third place in the Mountain Division.
“We came out strong from the beginning,” noted Americans forward Liam Finlay, on the Americans broadcast. “We know how important these points are, and we made sure we got the early jump on them. Tulsa is a tough team that is hard to put away. Sinclair (Mark) played great in net and gave us a chance to win.”
The Americans and Oilers battle again on Saturday night in Allen in the final regular season home game. It’s Classic of Texoma Fan Appreciation Night at CUTX Event Center. Game time is 7:10 PM CDT.
Three Stars:
1. ALN - M. Sinclair
2. ALN - K. Kielly
3. ALN - J. Hardie
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