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COME FROM BEHIND..................WELL, ALMOST!

While Barry is on vacation, the views contained in this blog do not represent Barry, or those of the Allen Americans Organization.

It will take a long time for the large crowd (5540) to forget what they witnessed in the third period of the Allen vs Wheeling 2nd playoff game.  The down and almost out Americans did not quit the game that they were barely playing in. After the second intermission, Allen came back to the ice with a "will give it our best effort" attitude, one which they should have had in the first two periods. Their efforts began and as it started raining outside, it was raining goals inside the arena. Allen fought their way back into the game from a 7-1 deficit and with 9:57 left to play in the third, the score was now 7-6.  The arena was alive and most were sitting on pins and needles in anticipation to see if their team would even up the score and force overtime, or, even better, score 2 more and make a great come from behind victory.   Neither of those two options came to fruition as RED lost by the score of 7-6.  We can all hope that they will take this momentum onto the bus and on the ice in Wheeling. And, yes, we will not soon forget this valiant effort.

And he scores!
(courtesy of scenebyKimberly.com)

The Nailers wasted no time getting on the scoreboard scoring the first 5 goals of the game. They came out fast, physical, and outplayed the Americans in 2 periods.  They dominated special teams play, scoring on 3 power plays and a short handed empty net goal, which proved to be the game winner. Allen was able to narrow the gap in third scoring 5 unanswered goals, narrowing the gap to 7-6.
Game highlights can be viewed in the rewind section of the ECHL website:http://www.echl.com/

Oh no, not again!
(courtesy of Dianne Webster)

It is noteworthy that in 2 consecutive games, the Nailers scored on what appears to be more than just coincidence.  They scored a goal in each game by making a 1 man line change away from the action in the Allen end.  In both instances the substituted Nailer player tallied a goal immediately after the change.

Fun facts about last night game (if there could be anything fun about last night's game):

• last night's 13 combined goals, tied the record for the Riley/Kelly Cup finals
• a total of 22 players scored points: 11 for Wheeling, 11 for Allen
• total of 12 players scored goals, 7-Wheeling, 5-Allen
• game winning goal came on a second period empty netter
• each team had a stretch of 5 unanswered goals, Wheeling the first 5, followed by Allen with next 5
• Greger Hanson extended his playoff leading goals with his 12th goal
• Gary Steffes also extended his points streak to 7 games

Going to Kelly's after the game?

Coach Martinson's post game comments:

• did not see third period coming, the first two periods were the worst I can remember
• third period is all on our players, they decided to play, only thing I said was "go win a period"
• we surrendered too many 1 timers
• we failed to block passing lanes 
• the ending was great, but not quite great enough
• you can't dig yourself out of that big of a hole
• came out in third period and didn't fold, did everything we could to win the game
• Riley Gill will be back on Wednesday, getting Gill back will be a big plus
• there will be some painful video and some fun stuff to watch
• will be leaving for Wheeling, by bus, tomorrow afternoon
• this is going to be a tough series

It was great seeing one of Allen's all time favorites, Daniel Tetrault, in the house for these first two playoff games.

Come home Tetsy!
(photo courtesy of social media)

Wednesday night game Preview:

• Special teams again will probably determine the outcome of the next game.
• Wheeling's home power play percentage is 19.6 (22.6 overall)
• Allen's road power play percentage is 25.6 (27.6 overall).
• On the other side, Wheeling penalty kill percentage is 81.3 at home (85.7% overall) while Allen is 79.5 on the road and overall.
• Allen is #1 and Wheeling #2 in overall power play records of the playoffs.
• When being outshot by opponents, Allen is 4-1-0-0 on the road, and 8-2-0-0 overall.

Did you know:Wheeling's name and logo are a tribute to the city's heritage.  The city is nicknamed the "Nail City" and had a cut nail plant located south of the arena. Their logo mask is not a hockey mask but a mask worn by employees in the cut nail factory.