ALLEN, Texas – Once again the Allen Americans stood tall in the face of elimination and defeated the Ontario Reign 2-1, forcing a deciding game seven of the ECHL Western Conference Finals with a solid team performance in front of 3,053 fans at the Allen Event Center Tuesday night.
Ontario outshot Allen 11-9 in a scoreless first period. The Americans came up short on the only man advantage situation in the opening frame, and went on to finish 0-for-5 on the power play. The Reign also struggled on the power play, going 0-for-3 on the night, making game six the first game in the series without a power play goal for either team. Allen is 4-for-27, while Ontario is 5-for-34 in the series.
The Americans opened the scoring when Greger Hanson fired a puck through the Reign crease that deflected off the skate of Ontario defenseman Matt Register and into the net at 7:07 of the second period. However, Ontario answered back less than three minutes later when Tristan King beat Riley Gill with a redirection from the slot to even the score at 1-1, with assists credited to Jeff May and Garry Nunn.
Allen got the go ahead and eventual game winning goal early in the third period when Chad Costello fired a snap shot past Joe Cannata with Aaron Gens and Trevor Ludwig chipping in the helpers at the 2:01 mark. The Reign outshot the Americans through the contest by a count of 30-21, but solid defensive play from the Allen limited the Reign’s quality scoring chances and Gill was solid in net when called upon.
The two clubs meet again in the deciding game of the best-of-seven series Wednesday night at the Allen Event Center with the puck drop scheduled for 7:05pm CDT. The winner will move on to the Kelly Cup Finals where they will face off with the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals. Toledo and South Carolina are tied with three wins each in their best-of-seven series, with game seven also scheduled for Wednesday night.
ECHL Western Conference Finals Recap (Series tied 3-3):
Game 1: Allen 8, Ontario 2
Game 2: Ontario 3, Allen 0
Game 3: Ontario 4, Allen 1
Game 4: Ontario 5, Allen 0
Game 5: Allen 6, Ontario 1
Game 6: Allen 2, Ontario 1
Game 7: Ontario at Allen Wed. May 27, 7:05pm CDT
Contact the writer: maurice.fitzgerald@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer: Kimberly.Sauer@prohockeynews.com
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