Americans regroup, rearm, attack and prevail

ALLEN, Texas – With their backs against the wall, final cigarette lit and blindfold on, the Allen Americans made the trek to Odessa, Texas as dead men walking in the eyes of many in the Central Hockey League. The Americans didn’t see it that way and against all odds they rallied on the road and have forced a deciding game five on their home ice Friday night.   The Jacks struck first, just 1:11 into the opening frame, when Todd Robinson scored a nifty goal in a two-on-one carrying the puck through the right circle. He faked the pass across the ice to a streaking Mike Ramsay, making Allen net minder Chris Whitley commit to the pass, allowing Robinson to fire a shot past Whitley’s blocker. It was a very smart, heads up play by Robinson to put his club up early with the important first goal of the contest.   The Americans applied heavy offensive pressure on the Jacks and played very disciplined hockey, not wanting to have a repeat of Tuesday night, allowing the Jacks a multitude of power plays. The Americans relied on their high tempo to carry the play more than getting mixed up in physicality and it would give them several power plays throughout the evening.   The Jacks 1-0 lead didn’t last long and it would be their only lead of the game. Hard work by the Bonk-Blackwater-Yellow Horn line created havoc in front of the Odessa net at 5:52 of the first when Yellow Horn brought the puck around the net feeding Blackwater in front who fired two quick shots on net, potting the second one from the backhand to knot the score at 1-1.   Allen’s high tempo play created a golden opportunity for them early in the second half of the first period when Garret Gruenke and Sebastien Thinel were sent to the box for minors only 39 seconds apart, giving the Americans a vital five-on-three power play.   The Americans play with the two-man advantage was underwhelming however, blowing the huge opportunity with a stale effort that managed a paltry three shots on net. The Americans learned from that lesson and just three minutes later drew another call in their favor when Jeff Pierce got the gate for tripping. With just 17 seconds remaining on the power play and 1:07 left in the period, Dave Bonk fired one past Joel Martin on the short side, off a pass from David Strathman to put the Americans up 2-1.   At the 5:59 mark of the second period, the Jacks got the first of two scores for the period when Jeff Pierce lasered one past Whitley’s mitt in a three-on-one break. Odessa was reinvigorated and took the momentum from the Americans with the tying goal and really started taking the body heavily throughout the first half of the period.   The Americans stuck to their game plan and Dave Bonk picked up a rebound off the backboards and spied a lone Jarret Lukin in front of the Jacks net. Bonk sent a gorgeous cross ice pass to Lukin, who buried it on the short side past a sliding Martin at 10:23 to put the Americans up once again, 3-2. Odessa had a chance to tie the game again when Mike Berube was called for holding at 15:32 and made short work of it. Just seconds into the man-advantage, Robinson tallied his second of the night from the top of the right circle through traffic at 15:38. The score stayed locked at 3-3 through the remainder of the middle frame.   The Americans exploded out of the gate in the third, notching the go ahead go for the final time when Judd Blackwater jammed a backhander through Martin’s five-hole a mere 24 seconds into the period.   Play was fast and furious at both ends of the ice through the third and the pace heavily favored the Americans, whose stingy defense was frustrating the Jacks offensive unit and also rapidly killing the clock.   Bruce Graham was called for hooking at 6:27 of the third, giving Odessa their best chance at tying the game but were shut down by a tenacious Allen penalty kill led by Jarret Lukin. Lukin single-handedly killed off twenty seconds of the penalty on his own when he stole the puck, fought off several Odessa defenders and nearly scored short-handed and then kept the play in the Odessa end with his usual tight forecheck.   The Jacks got one final chance to tie the game with 16 ticks left on the clock when Bonk was given the gate for tripping. With Martin on the bench, Odessa’s power play unit had a two-man advantage on the Americans with time running out.   A pair of stoppages had the clock down to just seven seconds left and the biggest face-off of the series to this point in the neutral zone where once again, Lukin played the hero. Winning the draw, Lukin muscled his way to keeping control of the puck and sent it down the ice where a streaking Tobias Whelan picked it up and cemented the 5-3 win for Allen with an empty netter with just one second remaining in regulation.   The deciding game five will be played Friday night at the Allen Event Center, with the opening puck drop at 7:30 p.m. CST.   Contact the writer at maurice.fitzgerald@prohockeynews.com