ALLEN, Texas – The Allen Americans (33-27-6-2) faced off against the Mountain division leading Colorado Eagles (45-17-4-2) for their sixth and final regular season match up Saturday night at the Allen Events Center. The Americans were hoping to avenge a 3-2 overtime loss on Friday night that earned them a much needed point in the standings.
As Allen makes a push towards a spot in post-season play and needs every point available, the Americans netted first as Joel Chouinard fired on net with assists from Mike Gunn and Casey Pierro – Zabotel just shy of blue line on Colorado’s Joe Cannata’s glove side at 5:23 of the first.
Needing one point to clinch the Mountain Division title, Colorado answered back with a Joey Ratelle (Chase Norris, Matt Garbowsky) deflection at 9:02. Americans goalie Jake Patterson attempted to contest the deflection, pleading for a high stick deflection, but the goal stood.
Just two minutes later, Allen went up 2-1 when J.C. Campagna (Pierro – Zabotel, Chouinard) tamed a bouncing puck, putting Allen back into the lead in the second half of the first.
Play remained continuous throughout the first period with only a few stoppages, including the only penalty being assessed to Colorado’s Brady Shaw for tripping at 17:18 to put Allen on the first power-play of the night, but the Americans came up short with the man advantage.
Cannata was feeling pressure at 4:08 of the second directly in front of the crease as he gave up some juicy rebounds to the Americans, but Colorado was able to clear, eventually gaining control.
Battles behind Colorado’s net ensued where players tangled up, allowing the Eagles to take the puck down the ice where Matt Register on assists from Drayson Bowman and Garbowsky beat Patterson at 5:49 to even the goal count at two each.
Seeking any points for a possible victory, Allen’s Bryan Moore beat Cannata on the stick side with an extreme shot angle on an across-crease pass fed from Jared Bethune and Eric Roy at 9:47 putting the Americans back in charge, 3-2.
The Eagles answered back at 14:05 with Ben Storm (Ryan Harrison, Matt Register) firing from beyond the face-off circle, beating Patterson on his right side.
Late in the second period with the score tied at 3-3, tempers begin to flare as physical play began to fester near Patterson, but both teams continued with five skaters apiece, keeping the second period penalty free.
It wasn’t until ten-seconds remained in second when the penalty minutes begin to flow for both teams. Ten minutes total were assessed, eight for roughing and two for interference. It was Allen’s Zach Pochiro that received four minutes total for roughing and Colorado’s Ryan Siiro that received the two-minutes for interference.
Allen began the third period a man down as Pochiro sat in the box but the Americans were able to kill off their first penalty of the night. At 3:05 Allen went on the power-play courtesy of a roughing minor on Colorado’s Ryan Harrison. Chouinard capitalized on the advantage midway through the 5-on-4, beating Cannata with assists from Pierro – Zabotel and Moore. The goal gave Chouinard (2-1-3) and Pierro – Zabotel (0-3-3) their third points of the night.
Not content with a one-goal lead, the Americans added a tad bit of breathing room as Thomas Frazee (Bethune) continued to dig, push and poke at the puck between Cannata’s left pad and post. Amid player congestion in front of the net and relentless prodding, Frazee was able to put the puck into the net to extend Allen’s lead by two at 12:48.
Colorado pulled Cannata at 17:49, giving the Eagles an extra attacker, a move that paid dividends when just 16-seconds later Ryan Olsen (Norris, Ratelle) brought Colorado back within one. Needing another goal to tie and send the game into overtime, Cannata was pulled for the second time at 18:12, but Allen’s Patterson defied a barrage of shot attempts giving the Americans a much needed two points. The win put Allen in sole possession of third place in the Mountain division, thus keeping their hopes of post-season play alive.
The Allen victory also kept the Colorado Eagles from clinching the Mountain division title, but a loss by the Idaho Steelheads at any point in the remainder of the regular season would change that and hand Colorado the title. That did not occur Saturday night as Idaho defeated the visiting Utah Grizzles 4-2.
Story by PHN Contributor Brian McLean
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