Allen Starts Series With OT Win, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Martinson’s Comments, Game Two Preview and More

It wasn’t easy but the Allen Americans kicked off their five games series against Kansas City last night with a come from behind 4-3 overtime win over the Mavericks. It was a big win for the Americans in their quest to get back into a playoff spot.

– Allen got off to a great start when JD Dudek scored the first goal of the game 40 seconds after the opening puck drop. The lead didn’t last long as defensive mistakes led to an easy goal for the Mavericks right at the goal mouth. The period ended with the score tied 1-1.

– Allen took a 2-1 lead with another early period goal. Just 108 seconds into the second period, Spencer Asuchak took a great pass from Jackson Leppard, was all alone in front of the goalie and buried the puck. Once again Kansas City came back with two unanswered goals exactly two minutes apart (6:42 & 8:42) to take a 3-2 lead into the second intermission. It didn’t look great for the Americans at that point given Allen’s record when trailing after the second period was 2-14-2-0.

–  Allen scored the only goal of the third period and for a change it was a Kansas City mistake that led to the tying goal that sent the game to overtime. If you watch the replay on this goal, it was Spencer Asuchak that forced the mistake that led to the goal. Asuchak hustled down the ice to cover the Mavericks player in the corner. You can see the goalie, who is behind the net, was about to pass the puck up the boards in Spencer’s direction but changed his mind at the last second and passed the puck the other direction, right on Costello’s stick. Chad passed in front of the net and Combs put it into the open net. If it hadn’t been for Asuchak’s hustle play on the forecheck, that goal doesn’t happen.

– When the game headed to overtime it also didn’t look good for the Americans. Allen’s overtime record was 0-5 and Kansas City’s was 4-1. To make matters worse, the Americans took a late penalty in regulation time and 1:41 carried over to overtime. Allen killed the 4-on-3 penalty time and won the game at the 4:11 mark of the overtime period. If you watch the replay you will see Zach Hall and Spencer Asuchak plus three Kansas City players in the front of the net with bodies falling all over the ice. Spencer gets up, pulls the puck from pile, makes a quick move on the goalie and uses his reach to tuck the puck in the goal to send the Allen fans home happy.

– Goals scorers for Allen were JD Dudek (3), Spencer Asuchak (13,14) and Jack Combs (13). Chad Costello had two assists and now has a league leading 49 points. Here are the video highlights:  https://youtu.be/4FiTjuDZnbI

– Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/americans-grab-overtime-win/

ALLEN VS KANSAS CITY GAME TWO PREVIEW

– Allen did some good things last night that hopefully will continue tonight. The Americans got off to a good start scoring the first goal just 40 seconds into the game. The team that scored first has won three of the four games these team have played this season.

– Allen doesn’t outshoot many opponents but when they do, like last night (40-32), they usually win. The Americans have outshot their opponents in just 11 of 41 games. Allen’s record in those 11 games is 9-1-1-0. More of the same in this category tonight.

– Allen lost the special teams battle last night and that is an area that needs to turnaround tonight. The Americans were blanked on the power play (0-4), Kansas City was 1-5. With Chad Butcher returning to the lineup tonight, he should get plenty of power play time.

– Allen had some basic breakdowns on the goals against that need to get cleaned up tonight. Allen outplayed the Mavericks last night but can clearly play better tonight.

COACH’S CORNER WITH STEVE MARTINSON

“It was an important game last night to start the series and it was good to finally get an overtime win.”

“Chad Butcher will be back in the lineup tonight. He will center the second line. Combs and Butcher work well together and will give us two strong scoring lines.”

“Butcher will also add to our power play which was 0-4 last night.”

“Seattle sent Antoine Bibeau to us to get in some work but he will only be here for a few games. He will return to Charlotte sometime next week.”

“I haven’t decided which goalie will get the start tonight. We need to get all of them some work.”

“On the goals against last night we got beat, which happens, but didn’t react well to help out after we got beat. We have to do a better job of covering when there is a breakdown. Almost all goals are not the result of just one mistake, but several mistakes.”

OTHER COMMENTS

– As the number of games played goes up, the points percentage increase or decrease from each game goes down. With the win last night, Allen’s points percentage improved by just .012 from .500 to .512. The Americans have a ways to go to secure a playoff spot. Here are the Mountain Division standings:

• .633 – Utah
• .600 – Idaho
• .558 – Tulsa
• .544 – Rapid City
• .512 – Allen
• .500 – Kansas City
• .455 – Wichita

– There are only two games on the ECHL schedule tonight. Other than the Allen game, Wichita is at Rapid City. If Allen wins and Rapid City loses in regulation tonight the gap between the two teams will shrink to ..009. Rapid City would still be in fourth place at .533 with Allen close behind at .524.

– Newfoundland showed what a difference it makes getting six or seven players back in the lineup. After losing six straight games (three in Allen) playing shorthanded, the Growlers beat Maine last night by a score of 5-0.

– Chad Costello extended his ECHL points lead to three with his two assists last night. There are two players at the top of the leader board in this series with Kansas City. Here are the top five scorers in the ECHL:

• 49 points (18G, 31A), Chad Costello, Allen
• 46 points (20G, 26A), Blake Winiecki, Florida
• 43 points (22G, 21A), Dylan Sadowy, Tulsa
• 43 points (20G, 23A), Darik Angeli, Kansas City
• 43 points (19G, 24A), John McCarron, Florida

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about players with the largest percentage of their team’s total points. Chad Costello leads the ECHL in that category with 13.7% of Allen’s points. How does that compare to Chad’s previous seasons in Allen? In 2014-15 he had 15.7% of Allen’s points, 2015-16 he had 16.5% and in 2016-17 he had 15.3%.

Rather than looking at which players have scored the most points, here is another way to look at players that contribute the most to team offense. Here are the ECHL players with the highest percentage of their team’s total points. The player’s points and the team’s points are in parenthesis.13.7% – Chad Costello, Allen (49 of 357)12.3% – Liam Pecararo, Greenville (37 of 301)11.7% – Darik Angeli, Kansas City (43 of 366)11.7% – Alex Tonge, Norfolk (31 of 266)11.7% – Dylan Sadowy, Tulsa (43 of 367)11.6% – Zach O’Brien, Newfoundland (34 of 293)

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