Americans with their backs against the wall

ALLEN, Texas – In a game marred by chippy play and numerous penalties, the Allen Americans find themselves in an unusual spot after game two at home. They are now down 0-2 in the series as they head on the road to Odessa for games three and if necessary, game four.
 
The Americans came out flying and intense, putting the Jacks on the ropes from the puck drop and dominating the play offensively. The Jacks did everything they could to hold on, down in shots 8-2. Even with an early power play they were unable to get things going.
 
Then the game changer happened, Kip Brennan threw a body check,  crumpling an Odessa player to the ice. Brennan was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct.
 
With the Americans down a man, the Jacks were finally able to get things going offensively and threw eight shots at the net, notching two scores in the process.
Both goals were by Todd Robinson, the first at the 11:58 mark when Robinson banked a shot from behind the left post off of Chris Whitley’s skate and then again Robinson found the back of the net 48 seconds later at 12:46, giving the Jacks an early two goal lead with another four minutes to go on the power play.
* The Americans’ penalty kill did its job from then on and they saw plenty of work throughout the game, blanking the Jacks on the power play the rest of the night, but the early goals on the five-minute major had already turned the tide of the game.
 
During the five-minute major, Allen fans were brought to their feet in outrage when Jackalopes defenseman Garret Greunke slashed Allen’s Bruce Graham in the mouth, dropping him to the ice. Surprisingly, it wasn’t caught by any of the officials who had just earlier determined the body check by Brennan warranted a game ejection.
This caused the coaches from both teams to begin verbally battling each other through the glass separating the two benches.
 
Early in the second period, Colton Yellow Horn was forced to leave the ice for stitches after taking an Odessa stick in the mouth. Again, the referee drew the ire of the fans by not only seeing the infraction but deciding it wasn’t worthy of the double minor required for the offense.
 
Allen was dealt yet another blow when Todd Robinson threaded a pass to Patrick Mbaraga who fired it past Whitley to give the Jacks a comfortable 3-0 lead at the 8:56 mark.
 
Allen finally got on the board when Jarret Lukin drilled home a rebound off a Dave Bonk shot at 13:12 of the second. Allen continued to pressure the Jacks throughout the period and out shot them 9-4 in a slower paced middle frame that would be the precursor to a long and chippy third period.
 
Odessa came out strong in the final frame, tallying twice in the first two minutes. Just 28 seconds into the period, Matt Gens lit the lamp and his goal was followed at the 2:10 mark by Jeff Pierce.
The two goals took the wind out of the sails for the Americans, who continued to pressure the Jacks but couldn’t maintain a serious offensive assault, falling prey to a tenacious Odessa forecheck that stalled the Americans.
 
* Americans captain Tobias Whelan tried to breathe life back into his team with a power play goal at 7:47 when he slammed home a Lukin rebound. The Americans had a few more power play opportunities but relied too much on individual efforts rather than their normal, high tempo passing game.
 
From that point on, the score was academic but sadly, the game devolved into a chippy mess. Yellow Horn was down on the ice as the whistle blew and Joel Martin covered the puck for the Jacks, Justin Sawyer then delivered two cross checks to the base of the skull of Yellow Horn that led to a large scrum on the ice. Sawyer was assessed two minutes for cross checking and two minutes for roughing.
 
Tensions continued to rise on the ice and three minutes later, a very odd scene took place that is more at home with soccer than hockey. Judd Blackwater took a slash from Matt Gens and took exception to it and pursued him. Gens wanted nothing to do with fisticuffs and taunted Blackwater into poking him with his stick. Gens then fell to the ice, drawing a slashing and an unsportsmanlike from Blackwater.
While the official was over at the scorers bench, Gens jumped back up to his feet, did a little dance all the way to his bench blowing mock kisses to the fans.
 
The last seven seconds of the game saw a fight between Langdon and Sawyer at the face-off and Liam Huculak pursuing Garret Greunke around the entire ice surface, who refused to drop the gloves. Allen was assessed a total of seven penalties to Odessa’s lone infraction in the fracas, which was on par with the rest of the evening.
 
Allen now travels to Odessa with hopes to keep their playoff hopes alive. Game two will be played Tuesday night at the Ector County Coliseum at 7:05 pm CST.
 
Contact the writer at maurice.fitzgerald@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer at chip.crail@prohockeynews.com