Allen Americans Top Odessa Jackalopes 6-4 in Game Four
Allen Americans captain Jarret Lukin scores the first of his two goals on Odessa Jackalopes goaltender Juha Toivonen in the first period of Friday's Southern Conference Finals Game Four. The Americans won the game, 6-4, and took a 3-1 series lead. (Photo Credit: John O'Neill)
The Allen Americans started out strong in the first period of Friday night’s Southern Conference Finals Game Four, posting three unanswered goals against the Odessa Jackalopes. The two teams played a wild second period that saw a total of six goals, and in the end the Americans were able to hold out for a 6-4 victory, giving them a 3-1 series lead.
At one point in the second period, the Americans held a 5-1 lead on the Jackalopes. But, Odessa was able to roar back, closing the gap to 5-4 after a shorthanded penalty shot goal in the closing moments of the middle frame.
“We’ve talked all playoffs about composure and adversity,” said Americans head coach Dwight Mullins. “At the end of the day, the numbers on the scoreboard were still in the favor that we wanted them. Sometimes it’s (easy) to lose sight of that at times. I give our guys a lot of credit – they were able to park the negatives and focus on getting back a little bit of momentum.”
“We can’t worry about them, i think we have to keep worrying about our game. That’s how we’ve been successful. Every game we’ve tried to play our game and not played into their hands. They’re a good hockey team – they score lots of goals. We’re just trying to stick to our game plan. I think they’re going to have to empty the tanks tomorrow night – they don’t have a choice. I think you’re going to see a fired up Allen Americans team too, and hopefully we take care of business.”
Nino Musitelli got the Americans on the board early at the 17:27 mark of the 1st period. The Jackalopes turned the puck over along the boards in their zone, and Musitelli jumped on it quickly, skating into the near faceoff circle and firing a wrist shot past Odessa goalie Juha Toivenen for the 1-0 lead.
The Americans added two goals in the final five minutes of the opening period.
Nathan O’Nabigon and Colton Yellow Horn worked hard to get the puck deep in the Odessa end. They worked the puck over to Americans captain Jarret Lukin, who was alone in front of the goal for the easy one-timer to the top shelf.
Allen made it a 3-0 game just 47 seconds later. Once again, the Americans set up in the Odessa zone, and Ryan Fairbarn blasted a shot on net from the left point. Yellow Horn was in the slot to get the rebound and work it behind Toivenen for the large lead.
The Jackalopes registered their first goal of the night on the power play with 1:30 left to play. Odessa worked the puck down low to the corner and Kory Karlander. The Jacks captain snapped it into the slot where Jeff Pierce was waiting to put it behind Allen goaltender Chris Whitley.
The two teams skated to the locker rooms with Allen up, 3-1.
Allen got their second power play opportunity of the night 1:24 into the 2nd period. The Americans set up and established themselves in the Odessa zone. Justin Bowers crept into the slot and picked up a rebound from Toivonen’s pads, working it around the Finnish netminder and into the net to make it 4-1, Allen.
With Yellow Horn in the box for Allen and Sebastien Thinel in for Odessa, the two teams skated 4-on-4. Allen took advantage of the reduced manpower on the ice. Jordie Benn fired a shot from the point that was re-directed in front of the net by Lukin, giving him two goals on the night.
Jeff Pierce led the Jackalopes charge back a few seconds later. Odessa got the next two quick goals from Pierce, giving him the hat trick and pulling Odessa within two goaols, 5-3.
An uncharacteristic loss of composure put two Odessa Jackalopes in the penalty box for slashing and holding, seemingly derailing their comeback. The penalties gave Allen a 5-on-3 for a full two minutes with 3:23 left in the period.
But, a collision by a pair of Allen defensemen at the blue line sprang Odessa’s Karlander on a breakaway, and the Americans took a hooking penalty to prevent Karlander’s opportunity. Referee Dan Dreger awarded Karlander a penalty shot, and the Jacks captain beat Whitley with a quick shot between the legs, cutting the Allen lead to a single goal.
During the penalty shot, Whitley suffered some pain when the puck struck an unprotected spot in his equipment, and needed an injury timeout to collect himself. The pause in play allowed Mullins to speak to his team and make sure they were focused.
The Americans resumed their 5-on-3 opportunity, and came up with a big goal. Ryan Fairbarn whistled a puck past Toivonen to restore the two-goal advantage for Allen, 6-4.
A total of six goals were scored in the 2nd period – the most goals seen in one period of any Americans game thus far. The tumultuous middle frame came to an end with Allen up by same two goals they led by after the first period of play.
The third period was a mostly defensive affair, with the Americans focusing primarily on limiting and preventing any quality shots on goal. Their efforts kept Odessa off of the board, despite being outshot 11-5 in the period.
“They’re playing desperate,” Bowers said of the Jackalopes. “They threw a lot at us in the second, but we matched them – we had three goals too. We knew what we had to do in the third, and I think we did that. They’re having a tough time playing with us when we’re shutting them down. We’re playing a really good defensive game and Whitley’s been great. Our D has been awesome. Our forwards are chipping things in and keeping it simple, our D is doing the same and Whitley’s making big saves.”
Between the pipes, Whitley is getting lots of help from back-checking forwards and a defense that is hitting at every opportunity.
“I thought they would have (given) more of a push,” Whitley said about the Odessa offense. “I think that was a credit to our defense and backcheck in the third period. Giving up three goals in the second period is pretty uncharacteristic for us. I think the guys realized that and made sure we just focused on defense. We had a two-goal lead and that should be good enough to win.”
Mullins said that although his team was more focused on limiting shots than generating shots of their own, that wasn’t necessarily a change in their overall game strategy.
“Our game plan doesn’t necessarily change at all,” Mullins said. “Based off of some of the things they did, it forced us to have to be careful and defend. But there were times where we just wanted to manage the puck and take care of the puck, and sometimes when you do that as a team, your shot totals suffer.”
With a 3-1 series lead, the Americans have an opportunity to close out the series at home on Saturday, when they take on the Jackalopes in Game 5.
Photo Gallery by John O’Neill:
