Perry Shutout, Finlay Hat Trick Lead Allen, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Quotable Quotes, Today’s Preview, Big Allen Scoop and More

Before starting I want to apologize for any errors in the blog today. My proofreader and lovely wife and daughter start a seven-day cruise today, so I am on my own which is dangerous. To make up for the errors you will undoubtedly encounter today I will give you a big scoop from my crack reporting. The Americans left a little early for Tulsa this morning because of a rumored early bus stop at Buc-ee’s. If you haven’t been there, it is quite an experience. So much to choose from. Here is from the championship tier of snacks that both look good and taste good. Only in Texas, haha.

• Sweet & Spicy Beef Jerky
• Sea Salted Caramel Beaver Nuggets
• Salted Cinnamon Churro Cashews
• Buc-ee’s OverBite Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter
• Salted Caramel Yogurt Pretzels
• Banana Pudding
• Dried Sausage and Cheese Cup
• Cream cheese Kolache
• Beaver Tots
• Jalapeno Sausage Cheese Kolache
• Beaver Chips
• Fried Chicken Sandwich
• Coconut Pie Cup

– How do you follow up one of the most exciting comebacks of all time on Friday night. All the Allen Americans accomplished last night was a season high for the most goals scored and a season low for fewest goals allowed. Chase Perry stopped all 37 Tulsa shots and Liam Finlay scored his second hat trick of the season to lead Allen to a 6-0 shutout win over the Tulsa Oilers before a crowd of 4010 at CUTX Event Center. It was the Americans season long fourth straight win which topped the prior season long win streak of three games which they set just before the current streak began. It means Allen has now won seven of its last eight games. No other team in the ECHL has a better record than Allen over the last eight games.

– It certainly wasn’t a perfect game by the Americans. Tulsa had a couple of odd man rushes in the first period, but the defense and Chase Perry made big stops when necessary. The hottest scorers for Allen, Liam Finlay and Colton Hargrove, found the back of the net to give the Americans a 2-0 lead after the first period. Allen scored two more goals in the second period (Robidoux & Finlay) and Perry stopped all 17 Tulsa shots. Allen added two more goals in the third period (Finlay & Hebert) to make the final score 6-0.

– Allen did a great job of staying out of the penalty box. Tulsa had just two power plays opportunities last night after going 3-5 on Friday. The video review the team did before the game was successful as the penalty kill did a much better job and held Tulsa scoreless on the power play.

– Goal scorers for Allen were Liam Finlay (16, 17, 18), Colton Hargrove, (16), Mikael Robidoux (3) and Grant Hebert (2). Chad Butcher, Gavin Gould and Zach Massicotte each had two assists. Ten of the 11 forwards in the game had at least one point. Allen’s depth is starting to show. Here are the game highlights with all six Allen goals. https://www.echl.com/en/video/2023/1/tulsa-oilers-vs-allen-americans—jan-28-2023-bfm0FBX3

– Here are the game recaps:

Allen Americans:  https://allenamericans.com/media/americans-blank-tulsa-6-0/

Tulsa Oilers:  https://tulsaoilers.com/americans-win-second-straight-against-oilers/

– Post Game Quotable Quotes

“This one was super special, obviously Costy is in our hearts right now and we wanted to get the win for him. Hat tricks are great, but it was a special team effort tonight and I am super proud of our team. Also, shoutout to the fans tonight, they were great. We love your passion.”…..Liam Finlay

“We love our team. Our lineup is starting to come together after a tough start to the season, and we are very happy the way we are playing. Tulsa is a well-coached team, so we will be focused on our preparation to be sure the guys are ready to go tomorrow.”…..Aaron Gens

“We adjusted the penalty kill and the guys really responded. It takes a lot of work with all of the stops and starts when you are killing penalties. It was also important Tulsa had only two power plays tonight, we stayed out of the penalty box.”…..Gary Steffes

“All 11 forwards were going tonight. They were skating, they were competing, and we were able to get all 11 into the game.”…..Gary Steffes

“Our entire team showed up to play today tonight. Our defense kept us in it at the start of the game. Our forwards back checked which allowed our defense to stay up and our guys used their skill and speed to make plays.”…..Gary Steffes

“I was so proud of Robidoux, it take guts to take one across the chin and not fight back. He took one for the team and it was awesome. There is no question how tough he is, but he had nothing to prove in that moment.”…..Gary Steffes    Update: the Tulsa player that jumped Robidoux (Kaylor Wall) has been suspended for one game and will miss the game this afternoon.

– It is going to take some special performance to keep Liam Finlay from being the ECHL Player of the Week. He has one game left to complete the four-game week, but in the first three game he has five goals and had the game winning goal in all three. His plus/minus was a +6. He is the first player since Allen joined the ECHL to have the game winning goal in three straight games.

– Colton Hargrove’s goal last night extended his scoring streak to 14 games. That is tied for the longest point scoring streak in the ECHL all season. Even more impressive, Colton has scored 12 goals in the last 13 games. Averaging half a goal per game is outstanding, he is only one goal shy of averaging a goal per game since the end of December.

– Rookie Grant Hebert continues to impress. He was moved to the top line last night and had a goal and an assist. Hebert has played eight games for Allen since leaving college with his degree, and has seven points (2G, 5A).

– For Allen to be successful in Tulsa today they need to continue to play like they did last night. You might see a tweak to the power play. Allen was 1-5 in both games against Tulsa so the power play had been good (20%) but could be better.

– Tulsa outshot Allen 37-29 but a lot of shot were from the perimeter. Tulsa has historically been one of the top teams in shots per game. They are currently rank #4 in average shots, and they are missing Adam Pleskach who was always in the top 10 in shots. Tulsa has outshot its opponents 25 time this season but lost 15 of the 25 games.

– The lineup today will see Luke Peressini,, just back from an AHL loan, get the start in goal. The rest of the lineup will be the same as last night.

• Hebert-Hargrove-McAuley
• Combs-Butcher-Finlay
• Gould-Bethune-Robidoux
• Young-Pochiro
• Myllari-Saucerman
• Bernard-Massicotte
• Skelly-Gagnon
• Peressini
• Perry (back up)

OTHER COMMENTS

– Hank Crone, who is on loan to Ontario (AHL) was a healthy scratch last night as the Reign beat San Diego 7-2. Ontario has the top two ECHL rookie scorers on PTO’s (tryout agreements) right now. Crone and Alex Ierullo (Greenville). Ierullo played last night. Ontario plays Calgary at home tonight so maybe Crone will play in that game.

–  Allen has made a lot of progress in the standings over the last eight games with its 7-1 record. I may have to find out where I can buy the crow meat I will have to eat if the Americans make the playoffs. Better yet I am sure Aaron Gens will be happy to provide me a crow. There is no season on crow hunting in Texas so Gens will have no problem getting one for me. Right now, Allen is only two points and .014 percentage points from being in a playoff position.

– There are seven games in the ECHL this afternoon. Allen at Tulsa is the only Mountain Division game. Here are the previews form ECHL Today:  https://www.echl.com/en/news/2023/1/echl-today-jan-29

– If Allen wins this afternoon there will be a three-way tie for the final play spot between Rapid City, Utah and Allen. They will all have 39 points and a .488 points percentage. If you take the points percentage to a fourth decimal point, Rapid City will have the edge (.4880) over Allen and Utah (.4875). It means nothing if Allen doesn’t pick up a win this afternoon.  Here are the current Mountain Division standings by points percentage with points in parenthesis:

• .813 -Idaho (65)
• .583 – Wichita (49)
• .513 – Kansas City (39)
• .488 – Rapid City (41)
• .488 – Utah (39)
• .474 – Allen (37)
• .421 – Tulsa (32)

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about defensemen scoring. For Allen the highest scoring defenseman is Colton Saucerman (17 points). He is 7th in scoring for the Americans.

ECHL teams with a defenseman in the top three in scoring. Points are in parenthesis:1st – Andrew Nielsen, Utah (31)2nd – Mike Brodzinski, Orlando (28)2nd -Josh Maniscalco, Wheeling (28)2nd – Owen Headrick, Idaho (36)3rd – Patrick Kudla, Idaho (34)3rd – Chad Nychuk, Kalamazoo (21)3rd – Tristan Thompson, Savannah (25)Notice the best team in the league, Idaho, (.813 points percentage) has defensemen as its 2nd and 3rd leading scorers.

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