Americans take 3-1 series lead

ALLEN, Texas – The Allen Americans would do Herb Brooks proud as they continue to “play their game” night after night and to this point that game plan has served them well. Friday night in Game Four of the Southern Conference Finals, they continued their drive for a berth in the championship series with a big win over the Governor’s Cup Champion Odessa Jackalopes 6-4, forged by an explosive opening period.
 
  Once again the Americans wasted no time in getting on the board, drawing first blood only 2:33 into the opening stanza. Nino Musitelli picked up a poor clearing attempt off the boards and broke the sound barrier with a rifle past Odessa’s Juha Toivonen. The shot beat him high to the glove side just under the crossbar for Allen’s first shot on net. Musitelli has seven goals so far in the playoffs.
 
Near the midway point of the first frame, Odessa’s Garrett Gruenke was called for roughing and Allen nearly lit the lamp again when Colton Yellow Horn’s low shot beat Toivonen but was denied by iron as it rang off the left post. Play continued at a high tempo at either end of the ice, with both teams getting good tries but neither able to get a marker as the period went into its last quarter.
 
Something had to give as both teams were playing outstanding two-way hockey and with less than five minutes remaining in the period, the levee broke. At 15:32, Americans Captain Jarret Lukin snapped a shot past Toivonen to move Allen ahead by two and less than a minute later the lead increased one more time.
 

Ryan Fairbarn’s point shot rebounded up into the chest of Colton Yellow Horn who was standing at the right post unattended and he swatted the bouncing disk into the net at 16:19 for Allen’s third unanswered goal. Odessa didn’t let up their relentless pursuit of the puck and it paid off two minutes later when Justin Bowers was called for boarding.
 
Jeff Pierce opened the scoring for the Jacks on the power play with just 1:30 left in the period, assisted by two beautiful touch passes by Kory Karlander and Dominic Leveille. It was a simple but well rehearsed, pass, pass, shoot, score that Odessa is known for on the man advantage.
 
The first period ended 3-1 with Odessa having the edge in shots on net, 14-10.
 
Odessa’s Mike Ramsay was given the gate for holding at 1:24 into the second period, giving Allen a power play opportunity they didn’t squander. Justin Bowers picked up a rebound in front of the Jacks net, stepped around a sprawling Toivonen and found the back of the net to put the Americans back on top by three, just 2:24 into the middle frame.
 
Allen was called for too many men on the ice at 4:03 but was able to hold the Jacks power play at bay yet again. This is the third time the Americans have been caught in this mistake in the playoffs as they seem determined to play the puck through the near boards, in front of their bench when making a change rather than cross ice to the far side.
 
A pair of matching minors had the teams playing at four a side when Lukin added his second tally of the night to the Americans runaway lead, 5-1 at 8:32. Odessa answered back when Jeff Pierce put a loose puck into the net 22 seconds later to cut the Americans lead to three once again.
 
Allen started to show some signs of wear late in the second period as their play started to peter out. With 5:40 remaining in the period, Odessa’s Jeff Pierce continued his one man offensive show for the Jacks and schooled Allen defenseman Ryan Fairbarn with a gorgeous deke before sailing one past Whitley for a natural hat trick.
 
The Jackalopes faced a five-on-three situation two minutes later when Pierce was caught for roughing and in the ensuing delayed call, Jacks goaltender Juha Toivonen added insult to injury to his team with an unnecessary slash. In an odd series of events that followed, both teams managed to find the back of the net just one minute apart.
 
Two Allen defensemen took each other out of the play when trying to gather a loose puck. This allowed Kory Karlander to head down to the Americans zone where he was chased down by an Allen defender before falling to the ice. The official caught it at the opposite end and signaled for a penalty shot which Karlander was able to put past Whitley. During the save, Whitley somehow injured himself and was on all fours in pain but was able to continue after an extended injury time out.
 
With the score narrowed to one, Odessa still faced over a minute in the vital five on three penalty kill. Allen’s Ryan Fairbarn would redeem himself from his earlier defensive mishap against Pierce with just 23 seconds remaining on the power play, increasing the Americans lead to two goals.
 
Fairbarn received a pass and hesitated just long enough to allow Musitelli to set a moving screen on Toivonen before shooting. The net minder didn’t have a chance as the puck flew by his glove side with his vision obscured. Period two came to a close with Allen ahead 6-4 on 25 shots to Odessa’s 32.
 
The third period was played at a breakneck pace as the Jacks threw everything they had into a major assault in the Allen zone but the score would remain unchanged. The Americans defense stepped up the effort and dropped the hammer on them, limiting Odessa to just 11 attempts at the net fueled by the clamor of the near capacity crowd that rose to a deafening crescendo as time expired.
 
Game Five will be played Saturday night at the Allen Event Center and the Americans will have the opportunity to advance to the Ray Miron President’s Cup Final with a win on home ice. The puck drops at 7:30pm.
 
Contact the author at maurice.fitzgerald@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer at chip.crail@prohockeynews.com