ALLEN, Texas – The Allen Americans have a rare one-and-done stand-alone game tonight as the Tulsa Oilers visit the Allen Event Center. It is preparation for next week when the Americans will play Tulsa four times five days (3 home, 1 away). The game tonight will be number nine of 13 times Allen and Tulsa will play this season.
Tulsa/Allen Game Preview
– Head-to-head, Allen has a record of 5-2-1-0 against Tulsa this season, including 3-0-1-0 at the AEC and 2-2-0-0 in Tulsa. In the eight head-to-head games, Allen has outscored Tulsa 27-14. Allen has five shutouts all season, with three of them coming against Tulsa.
– Both teams have been struggling recently. Allen is 5-5-0-0 in the last ten games and has lost five of its last seven. Tulsa is 3-4-2-1 in the last 10 games and has lost four of the last five. Tulsa just lost three straight to Rapid City at home, while Allen lost two of three to Utah.
– The odd stat of the day is Tulsa has a better road record (13-11-3-0) with a points percentage of .537 than home record (10-13-2-2) with a points percentage of .444. Allen’s home points percentage is .700, and its road point percentage is .538.
– Overall, special teams stats favor the American both on the power play (18.8% vs. 13.6%) and penalty kill (83.2% vs. 82.0%). Allen’s home power-play percentage is 15.3%, while Tulsa’s road power play is 14.0%.
– Scoring first is always critical, as shown by a combined record for Allen and Tulsa when scoring first of 40-13-4-0. Allen has scored first in all eight games these teams have played this season.
– The leading scorers for Allen in the head-to-head games against Tulsa have been Corey Mackin and Spencer Asuchak, with seven points in the eight games. Tulsa has been led by Adam Pleskach, who has always caused problems for Allen, and Danny Moynihan, who recently retired because of a medical condition.
– It has become a bit of a broken record in Allen’s recent poor play. Too many odd-man rushes allowed and not enough scoring to overcome the bad defense. The Americans lost three of four home games last week, and in the three losses, they scored a total of four goals.
Coach’s Corner
“Our two new players arrived last night, and I will register their contracts today, so it will be in transactions this afternoon. They haven’t practiced so may not be in the lineup tonight. We may be down to five defensemen as Phil Beaulieu is out with an injury.
“Samuel Laberge is day-to-day and will be a game-time decision whether he is in the lineup.”
“I am still not sure who will start in goal tonight. There are several factors I am considering, including the series this weekend against Wichita.”
“After reviewing the video of the Utah series, we have had the better puck possession in most periods.”
“Where we are hurting ourselves is in puck battles. We are losing way too many puck battles, especially in our offensive zone.”
Standings Check
Indy lost to Orlando last night 5-1 in the conclusion of a suspended game from the weekend because of bad ice. With the loss, Indy has been passed by Greenville for second place in the Eastern Conference. Indy started the season winning 11 of its first 12 games and was way out in front in points percentage. They have now lost nine of the last 12 games, fallen to third place, and are just .001 percentage point out of fourth place.
The other top team all season, Florida, has the worst record in the league over the last 10 games at 2-7-1-0. Florida is still first in the Eastern Conference with a points percentage of .671.
Did You Know?
Players are automatically suspended for a game once they reach 10 fights and are suspended for each fight until they reach 14 fights when the suspension becomes two games. Here are the Allen leaders in fighting majors:
6 – Zane Franklin
4 – Dyson Stevenson
4 – Colby McAuley
