Allen forces a game four, denies the sweep

ALLEN, Texas – In a must win situation Tuesday night, a focused and determined Allen Americans took the ice in Odessa at the Ector County Coliseum and played to their full potential, denying the Jacks a series sweep and forcing game four on Thursday night.
 
The game had a fast tempo all night long and defensively, the Americans were brilliant, facing seven Odessa power plays and shutting them out all game long on the man-advantage.
The Americans were also held scoreless on their three power plays, which included a five-on-three opportunity. Allen netminder Chris Whitley faced 40 shots and made 39 saves while Joel Martin faced 40 shots and had 37 saves for the Jacks.
 
Shortly after killing the first power play, Dave Bonk carried the puck down the right wing boards and fired a wrister past Martin, scoring unassisted at the 6:59 mark and getting that important first goal for his club.
It was to be the lone goal for the next two periods, as neither team was able to score in the fast and furious first and second periods. Odessa held the 17-11 shot advantage through the first 20 minutes.
 
Allen pressured continually, showing persistent determination throughout the middle frame and slightly edged the Jacks in shots 16-15. Most of the shots by Odessa were low scoring chances due to a very strong defensive showing by the Americans. What Odessa shots that did make it through, Whitley was well up to the task. At the other end of the ice, Joel Martin looked just as strong and denied the Americans the opportunity to increase their lead.
 
The Americans’ best chance at the lead in the second period came when Alex Dunn and Patrick Mbaraga were sent off a minute apart, giving the Americans a five-on-three advantage. However, Allen played the two-man advantage too deliberate and wasted the opportunity rather than pressing it aggressively, earning only two shots on net during the power play.
 
Odessa nearly tied the game early in the third period but it was waved off when Whitley was interfered with and fell to the ice. Surprisingly, no goaltender interference call was made.
The first five minutes was a real defensive duel with neither side registering a shot on net and by the end of the period, the Americans would hold the edge with 13 shots to the Jacks’ eight.
 
At the 6:35 mark, Justin DaCosta blasted a shot from the right point that was redirected past Martin by Jarret Lukin, giving the Americans a 2-0 lead, but it was to be short lived. Philippe Plante snuck one past Whitley, who was down on the ice and scurrying back into position after making two point blank saves, at 8:24.
 
The score stood at 2-1 for the next eight minutes before the game breaker was setup on a great play by Lukin who intercepted the puck near his blue line and hit a breaking Bruce Graham down the right wing side. Graham brought the puck into the Odessa zone on a two-on-one with Nino Musitelli to his left. Graham threaded a nice pass to Musitelli who one-timed it past a sprawling Martin to give the Americans a 3-1 lead.
 
Odessa could feel the game slipping from their grasp and pulled Martin for the extra attacker for the final 2:30 of the game and the Americans went into full maximum security lockdown. Despite having the extra attacker, the Jacks were limited to only one shot on goal during the remainder of the game.
 
Game four of the best-of-five Berry Conference Semi-Finals will be played Thursday night at the Ector County Coliseum at 7:05pm CST.
 
Contact the writer at maurice.fitzgerald@prohockeynews.com