FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Three days after dispatching the top-seeded Missouri Mavericks, the Allen Americans took advantage of three early goals to post a 5-3 victory over the Fort Wayne Komets in front of 5,729 fans at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum to take a 1-0 lead in the ECHL Kelly Cup Western Conference Finals.
Allen out-shot Fort Wayne 16-6 in the first period, as they netted two power play goals and a shorthanded goal within the opening 10:56. The Americans finished the game with a 2-for-4 mark on the man advanatage.
Captain Gary Steffes put the defending Kelly Cup Champions on the board first, scoring an unassisted shorthanded goal 5:27 into the game. With the Komets on the power play, Steffes jumped on a loose puck that had trickled into the Fort Wayne zone, then wrapped around the net, scoring from the left side with goalie Pat Nagle out of position.
The Americans then added a pair of power play goals just under two minutes apart to take a 3-0 lead mid-way through the opening frame.
At 9:03 of the first, Eric Roy sent a shot into traffic in front of the net, where Greger Hanson deflected the puck past Nagle for his ninth playoff goal. Chad Costello received the secondary assist on the play.
Allen added to the total at 10:56 on a power play goal by Casey Pierro-Zabotel from Hanson and Costello. Costello dropped a pass in the left circle to Hanson, who sent the puck past a defender to Pierro-Zabotel on the right side. Pierro-Zabotel then sent the puck past Nagle’s glove and into the net to make it a three-goal lead.
Trevor Cheek put the Komets on the board with 13-seconds remaining in the first on a goal from Troy Bourke and Cody Sol. Cheek collected a rebound off a shot by Bourke and sent a shot past Allen netminder Riley Gill’s stick from the left side to make it 3-1 as the two sides went into the first intermission.
This scrum in front of the net resulted in six penalties / Photo by Josh Gales (eye2eye portraits)
The second period saw no goals from either side, as Fort Wayne posted a 7-4 shot advantage. 26 penalty minutes were handed out between the two sides during the period. A scrum in front of Gill after the whistle at 7:40 resulted in six of the ten penalties that were called in the second.
Allen’s Gary Steffes and Fort Wayne’s Gabriel Beaupre drop the gloves in the second period of Allen’s 5-3 win at Fort Wayne on Friday / Photo by Josh Gales (eye2eye portraits)
Fort Wayne out-shot Allen 13-6 in the final period as they mounted a comeback attempt. Bourke cut the lead to one goal 3:16 into the period on assists from Cheek and Jordon Southorn. With Gill on his back after making two-straight saves, Bourke lifted the puck over Gill’s left skate and into the net to make it 3-2.
Nikita Jevpalovs netted his first of the postseason eight minutes later to put Allen back on top by two goals. Jevpalovs skated into the middle of the left circle before snapping a shot high past Nagle to make the score 4-2. Steffes picked up the lone assist on the would-be game winning goal.
Not giving up hope, Bourke added his second of the night less than two minutes later on assists from Jamie Schaafsma and Cheek. Bourke found open ice inside the left circle and sent a shot past Gill, glove-side to make the score 4-3 with 6:32 remaining.
With Nagle pulled in favor of an extra attacker, Vincent Arseneau sent a puck the length of the ice from inside the Allen zone for an empty-net goal to ice the game with 36-seconds remaining.
Game two in the best-of-seven series is scheduled for a 6:00pm EDT start in Fort Wayne on Sunday. The series shifts to Allen on Thursday for game three.
Contact the writer: John.Hall@prohockeynews.com
Photos courtesy of eye2eyeportraits
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