ALLEN, Texas – The Allen Americans (20-18-4-1) were looking to stop a six game skid by rebounding and splitting a weekend series when they faced off against their Mountain division rivals, the Wichita Thunder (24-13-3-0) on Saturday night at the Allen Event Center.
Allen had the first man advantage of the night with a hooking call on Wichita’s Chad Butcher at 12:18 of the first period, but even with several hard shots on goal, the Americans were denied by Thunder goalie Nick Ellis.
The first ten minutes of the period saw scoring chances on both ends with the puck bouncing and trickling around the nets and creases with no results. It wasn’t until 15:45 when Allen’s Dalton Thrower put the puck past Ellis for an even-strength goal, with assists coming from Casey Pierro – Zabotel and Alex Schoenborn.
Not content with a one goal lead approaching the first intermission, the Americans struck again at 18:55 as Spencer Asuchak took advantage of an unsecured puck in front of Ellis, giving the Americans a two-goal advantage as the period closed out.
Early in the second period, Allen utilized their second power play at 2:55 courtesy of Wichita’s Marc – Olivier Crevier – Morin when he directed the puck into his own net for a fluke Americans goal. The goal was credited to Joel Chouinard and assists awarded to Thrower and Zach Pochiro, putting Allen up by three.
The Thunder’s evening scoring drought would come to an end at 19:05 of the second period, as Wichita’s Marc MacMillan capitalized on the man advantage by putting the puck past Allen goalie Jeremy Brodeur. The goal came on Wichita’s second power-play of the night and period due to a hooking call on Thrower just a minute earlier at 18:05.
For their second goal of the night, Butcher netted an unassisted goal sending the puck past Broduer’s right and open stick side, bringing Wichita within one at 5:03 of the third period.
Wichita continued to put pressure on the Americans, sending the puck off the cross bar and other on-goal attempts. However, Broduer remained consistent including a glove-stretching save at 12:29 resulting from a blast by the Thunder’s Ralph Cuddemi on Broduer’s stick side.
At 14:46, Wichita’s Shaquille Merasty leveled Broduer in the crease, but the collision didn’t draw a penalty much to the disapproval of the Allen fans. The non-call kept both teams at even strength as game approached the final five minutes of regulation play.
In the final few minutes, Allen kept the puck in the zone not allowing Ellis to vacate the net until 19:05 of the third period. Seven-seconds later, Pochiro sent the puck from just north of Broduer’s glove side and down the ice into an empty Thunder net, providing the Americans a much needed cushion as well as a solidifying two goal lead.
Just 26-seconds later, Allen’s Alex Guptill cemented the Thunder’s fate at 19:38 with a second Allen empty netter. The goal gave Thrower his second assist for a three-point night, a definite 5-2 Allen victory, a splitting of the weekend series with Wichita and the much needed stoppage of the six-game Allen skid.
Story by PHN Contributer Brian McLean