Dallas/Allen, Texas - The Allen Americans, ECHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators (NHL), and Belleville Senators (AHL), won their first home game of the season on Halloween night beating the Rapid City Rush 3-2 at CUTX Event Center.
For the first time this season, the Americans had a lead in regulation. Anthony Costantini scored at the 14:17 mark of the opening period going top shelf for his first goal of the year and first since the 2023-2024 season to give the Americans a 1-0 lead.
The Americans added another in the second period as Thomas Caron chipped one that went airborne past Rapid City goaltender Arsenii Sergeev for his first of the season at the 2:37 mark of the middle frame. The Rush would cut the lead in half before the period came to an end as Blake Bennett scored for the second time in the series to make it a 2-1 score. The Americans held a one-shot advantage after 40 minutes of play 24-23.
The Rush tied the game 51 seconds into the third period, but the Americans answered quickly. Hank Crone scored his first goal of the season and earned a point in back-to-back games. Despite giving up 31 shots on goal over the final two periods, the Americans held on to beat the Rush 3-2 on Trick-or-Treat Night in North Texas.
Marco Costantini was brilliant again in the game stopping 37 of 39 Rapid City shots to earn his first win of the season.
Hank Crone led the Americans with six shots on goal. Anthony Costantini and Mark Duarte were right behind him with five shots each.
The Americans power play woes continued going 0-for-3, while Rapid City was blanked going 0-for-6 with the man advantage.
They Said it:
Steve Martinson:” We played more of the Allen style tonight as advertised; we played physical. It was nice to see Hank Crone get his first goal of the season. Getting the lead early was nice. We still have work to do to be better but tonight was a step in the right direction.”
Colton Hargrove: I thought we came out with a little more fire to start the game and just kept it rolling into the 2nd and 3rd periods. Still need to work on staying out of the box, but we got 2 points. Need 2 more tomorrow.
Hank Crone: It was a big win for us tonight. We came out and played hard from the very beginning and got rewarded for it. The plan is to come back tomorrow night and do the same thing and get two more points.”
Three Stars of the Game:
1 Hank Crone
2 Spencer Asuchak
3 Brayden Watts
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