Amarillo Gorillas forward Neil Smith backhands the overtime game-winning goal into the net past sprawling Americans goaltender Charlie Effinger. The final score of Friday night's game was 3-2, Gorillas. (Photo Credit: Chip Crail)
Special thanks to Chip Crail of 43 Photography for use of the photos in this game recap. Please, check out his site and enjoy the great photography there, as well!
The Allen Americans returned to the Allen Event Center for a game against the Amarillo Gorillas, one day after defeating the Missouri Mavericks, 4-1, on Thursday night. The Gorillas and Americans played a physical game, highlighted by strong goaltending, and Amarillo picked up the win in overtime, 3-2.
“[The game] had a good tempo, I thought,” said Americans head coach Dwight Mullins. “We had a lot of opportunities, especially through the last part of the second period. I thought we continued through the third period, and just couldn’t find a way to capitalize.”
Amarillo drove up ice on a two-on-one opportunity. Americans goalie Charlie Effinger played it well, though, and the puck rattled into the corner and up the boards where it was picked up by Gorillas defenseman Jake Obermeyer. Obermeyer unleashed a slapshot that beat Effinger stick-side, to the top corner.
But, just over a minute later, the Americans tied it up. After an offensive draw for Allen, the puck came out to Kurtis Dulle at the blue line. Dulle unleashed a slapshot on net that Bill Loupee redirected into the back of the goal.
The Gorillas would take the lead once again at the 11:18 mark. Defenseman James Jernberg unleashed a slapshot from the blue line that, like Dulle’s shot earlier, was tipped and redirected in front of the net. Center Jason Chafe was able to get his stick on the puck at point-blank range, and put his team up, 2-1, which is how it remained until the end of the 1st period.
“Early on in the game, they just got a couple of good bounces,” Effinger said. “With the tip, and the guy had a pretty good shot on the first goal. At that point, when you’re in a tight game, you’re just trying to give your team a chance, you know, give the guys a chance and hold your team in it as long as you can and let the guys score goals.”
The Americans had several chances to score goals, including 1:14 of 5-on-3 power play time about five minutes into the 2nd period. But, they were unable to convert the opportunity into points. Colton Yellow Horn appeared to have a goal shortly after the final man-advantage expired, but the official ruling on the ice was no goal due to goaltender interference by Allen. No penalty was called on the infraction, but the goal was disallowed.
Halfway through the period, though, Allen put up a goal that counted. With the Americans on a power play, Colton Yellow Horn hammered the puck on goal from outside of the face-off circle on the near boards. Once again, it was re-directed in front of the net, this time by Tobias Whelan. Whelan tipped the puck, and it trickled in between Lohtander’s legs to tie the game once more.
Whelan’s goal would be the only one of the period, and the teams began the third period knotted at 2-2.
The third period was a scoreless frame, but both teams had several good opportunities to score. The Gorillas had 14 shots on goal, while the Americans had 13. The goaltenders at both ends came up big for their teams, and helped move the game into the bonus period.
After a quick rest, the teams headed to the five-minute, 4-on-4 overtime period. But, it only took 0:51 to determine a winner. Amarillo’s Shaun Arvai took a shot on goal from in close that Effinger stopped. But, the puck came free, and Neil Smith was able to backhand a shot into the net for the game-winning goal.
“They put the puck on net, and got a bounce in front and the guy crashed the net pretty hard,” said Effinger. “They made a strong play and their goaltender played well, so you’ve got to tip your cap to them. I thought we played pretty well, though. We came up a little short, but we’ve got to build on some of the things we did well and keep going.”
The Americans will host the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs on Saturday Night at the AEC.
