Americans show grace under pressure

ALLEN, Texas – Coming back from a 0-2 deficit in the series with Odessa, the Allen Americans showed great resilience, grit and character and once again showed why they were the top team in the Central Hockey League this season on Friday night in front of 4,912 of their fans at the Allen Event Center.
Forcing a deciding game five with a dramatic win on Thursday evening, the club immediately left west Texas for the long bus ride home and made sure to pack the momentum they earned in Odessa along with their equipment.
The Americans came out flying in the first, dominating the flow of play and denying the Jacks any shots on net until past the midway point of the first. With under 10 minutes to go, the shots on net were already heavily in favor of Allen at 7-1 long with the important first goal.
The Americans drew first blood on a goal by David Strathman at the 8:38 mark when he poked in a rebound off a shot by Nino Musitelli with Justin DaCosta contributing with an assist on the play.

Colton Yellow Horn was given the gate for slashing and the Jacks wasted no time with the man advantage. Just 13 seconds into the power play and with only 10 ticks left on the clock for the period, Mike Ramsay drilled a shot past a screened Chris Whitley and silenced the Americans crowd.
The late goal energized the Jackalopes and they came out at the start of the second, determined to get the go ahead goal. Odessa controlled the game for the first five minutes, double and triple teaming the Americans puck carriers, smothering them like a wet blanket.
The tempo of the game changed and so did the Americans, frustrated by a ferocious forecheck in the early going, Allen got their rhythm back and started creating space and with spaces comes opportunity. If it wasn’t for some key saves by Joel Martin in net for Odessa, the Americans would have increased their lead several times throughout the period.
Allen never relented on their assault and fighting tough in the trenches Dave Bonk would give the Americans the go ahead and game winning goal with only 6.4 seconds to go in the second period when he drove home a Yellow Horn rebound. Justin DaCosta earned his second point of the night with the other assist on the goal.
Throughout the game, Odessa put on a clinic for the Americans with utter domination on the draw. Odessa won nearly every face-off in the first and second periods. It would only be in the third that Allen started to slightly close the gap by winning crucial face-offs. Despite this, the Americans dominated the game and Odessa was once again outshot 13-7, with a game total of 25-14.
Allen continued to dominate the play in the third period, clamping down defensively and forcing the issue in the Odessa zone continually. The biggest threat for the Americans was facing an Odessa power play that has been deadly at 12:19 of the third when Bruce Graham was sent off for slashing.
The Americans put on a brilliant display of penalty killing and just absolutely shut the Odessa power play. Allen not only disallowed the Jacks from evening the score, they countered by going on the attack when Tobias Whelan and Dave Bonk took the play into the Jacks zone and nearly scored twice while a man down.
A crucial power play was awarded to the Americans with only 3:11 left to go in regulation when Sebastien Thinel was called for cross-checking. Allen was unable to find the back of the net for the insurance goal as Martin kicked aside four shots before being pulled for the extra attacker as the penalty expired.
Colton Yellow Horn cemented the win for Allen with the empty netter with 29.2 seconds to go, completing the incredible series comeback for the Americans.
Allen will once again, for the second time in their two seasons, be playing in the Berry Conference Finals. They will play the winner of the Tulsa and Bossier-Shreveport; they are set to square off Saturday night in their deciding game five.
Contact the writer at maurice.fitzgerald@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer at chip.crail@prohockeynews.com