The Allen Americans hosted the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees on Saturday night. The Americans won the game, 4-2. (Photo Credit: BDH)
On Saturday, the Allen Americans hosted what seemed like a must-win game against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. The Americans were coming off of back-to-back road losses, and playing a 3rd game in three nights. A loss could put them six points behind first place Wichita, and make it that much tougher to make up ground.
Instead, the Americans pulled out a gritty win in front of 5,683 fans, downing the Killer Bees 4-2, and pulled within striking distance of the Thunder.
“Tonight was a solid, complete effort all the way through,” Americans head coach Dwight Mullins said. ”Historically, we’ve gotten better and better when we go through stretches like this (referring to playing three games in three nights). I wish we could play every two days.”
The first period was a back-and-forth affair, both teams feeling one another out and getting the pulse of the game. While the two teams finished the opening frame nearly tied in both shots and scoring chances, the Killer Bees had what were arguably the best opportunities of the period. But, thanks to Rejean Beauchemin in net, the Americans kept it a scoreless affair heading into the 2nd period.
Early in the 2nd period, Jim McKenzie opened the scoring for Allen with his 16th goal of the year. McKenzie scored off of a tricky backhand pass from the newly-anointed Americans captain, Jason Dietsch.
The Americans extended the lead to 2-0 just 22 seconds later.
Allen defenseman Trevor Hendrikx took a pass from teammate Brian McMillin, evaded a Killer Bee defender, and wristed it into the Rio Grande net for the score. The goal was Hendrikx 4th goal of the season.
Rio Grande had some opportunities in the waning minutes of the 2nd period, but the Allen defense ramped up the physical play and Beauchemin remained strong in net, turning away 10 shots in the period.
At the end of the period, after the whistle had blown concluding play, Hendrikx cross checked a Killer Bees skater, perhaps trying to spark a fight. Instead, what it lead to was 17 minutes of penalty time, including a minor and major penalty for the check, and a 10-minute game misconduct for “continuation”.
After 2 periods, Allen trailed in overall shots, 18-17, but enjoyed a 2-0 lead.
The 3rd period started with Allen facing 7 minutes of penalty time to kill, 5 of which was on a major, meaning that Rio Grande could score as much as they’d like and the man-advantage would continue.
Beauchemin explained that when he faces situations like this, knowing he was coming out to start the period down a man for a significant period of time, it helped to focus on the little things.
“You’ve just got to battle through it,” Beauchemin said. “You break it into segments. You try to stay positive and keep working through it.”
But, less than 2 minutes into the period, the Killer Bees got on the scoreboard. Brandon Campos beat Beauchemin from the right point on a slapshot through traffic in front of the net, and made it a 2-1 game.
Allen continued to get into penalty trouble, though, and at the 4:00 mark took two more penalties, giving Rio nearly three minutes with a 2-man advantage.
The Bees tied the game at the 6:00 mark, as Aaron Lee slapped in a rebound off of the pads of Beauchemin.
The Americans killed the remainder of the penalty, but the damage had been done; the score was tied.
Allen was able to regain their lead, though, with 8:45 left to play in regulation. Jim McKenzie blasted a slapshot from the center blueline and Matt Register tipped the puck in the slot, past Murray, to put the Americans back on top, 3-2.
Allen continued to play a physical game, taking Rio players to the boards and down to the ice with hit after hit. In net, Beauchemin answered the challenge, and held the Bees off of the scoreboard for the remainder of the game.
Mark Nebus added an empty-net goal for the Americans with 26 seconds left to play.
With the win, the Americans improve to 28-11-8, staying in 2nd place in the Berry Conference, and pulling within two points of front-running Wichita. Allen is currently 10 points ahead of third-place Texas and will face the Brahmas on Tuesday at the Allen Event Center.
Notes:
- Allen Americans forward Colton Yellow Horn was a scratch in the game on Saturday, and Head Coach Dwight Mullins said the forward is currently day-to-day with a knee injury, and will most likely miss Tuesday’s game against the Texas Brahmas. Mullins said that a trip to the DL might be avoided, however, and Yellow Horn could rejoin the team during their two-game road trip to Dayton and Fort Wayne, which starts on Friday.
- Mullins also announced the team had chosen Jason Deitsch as their team captain. The Americans have played this season without a player wearing the “C” until now. Deitsch, who came to the Americans from the Texas Brahmas in the off-season, was also a captain with Texas for many seasons.
Three Stars of the Game:
(3) Aaron Lee – Rio Grande Valley
(2) Rejean Beauchemin – Allen
(1) Jim McKenzie – Allen
