The Allen Americans start their 2016 playoff run tomorrow night at home against the Idaho Steelheads. The Americans have made the playoffs every year since their inception (2009-10), have won three straight championships and are the defending Kelly Cup champs. Allen fans have come to expect deep playoff runs from this team and the expectations certainly aren’t any different this year.
Heard some good news yesterday from the team that they will be flying to Idaho rather than making the 1600 mile trip by bus. The entire team was pleased to hear they would avoid another 60 hours (round trip) on “Big Red.” It will make the short turnaround between games much easier. Congrats to all who pulled this off.
SERIES SCHEDULE 
Game 1: Thursday, April 14th Idaho at ALLEN 7:05 PM CST
Game 2: Saturday, April 16th Idaho at ALLEN 7:05 PM CST
Game 3: Wednesday, April 20th Allen at IDAHO 8:10 PM CST
Game 4: Friday, April 22nd Allen at IDAHO 8:10 PM CST
Game 5: Saturday, April 23rd Allen at Idaho 8:10 PM CST
Game 6: Tuesday April 26th Idaho at ALLEN 7:05 PM CST
Game 7: Wednesday April 27th Idaho at ALLEN 7:05 PM CST
* => If Necessary
FINAL REGULAR SEASON RECORDS

ALLEN
IDAHO

Team Record
41-24-3-4 (89 points)
38-24-7-3 (86 points)

Division Ranking
2nd – Central
2nd -West

Home Record
22-10-2-2
19-11-3-3

Road Record
19-14-1-2
19-13-4-0

Last Ten Games
5-3-0-2
4-3-2-1

Goals For/Against
222/204
203/187

Power Play
21.1% (58/275)
15.1% (41/271)

Penalty Kill
86.4% (39/286)
86.5% (36/266)

Leading Scorer
Costello  (24-79-103)
Linsmayer (21-36-57)

 
Here is how Allen and Idaho rank in the ECHL in some statistical categories:
Penalty Minutes Per Game: Allen 5th (16.51) – Idaho 20th (12.74)
Goals Scored Per Game: Allen 13th (3.08) – Idaho 19th (2.82)
Goals Allowed Per Game: Allen 13th (2.83) – Idaho 5th (2.60)
Shots For Per Game: Allen 24th (28.82) – Idaho 22nd (29.35)
Shots Against Per Game: Allen 18th (30.61) – Idaho 9th (29.03)
Power Play Percentage: Allen 1st (21.1%) – Idaho 22nd (15.1%)
Penalty Kill Percentage: Allen 3rd (86.4%) – Idaho 2nd (86.5%)
Special teams play is always critical during the playoffs and Allen has the best special teams in the ECHL. One way to look at this is combining power play and penalty kill percentages. The magic number that teams strive to achieve is greater than 105% combined. Typically around 10% of NHL teams can exceed the 105% level and it is considered exceptional. Allen leads the ECHL with a combined percentage of 107.5%. Idaho has a combined percentage of 101.6%.
– The advantage Allen has on special teams is on the power play. Allen is ranked #1 in the league at 21.1%. Idaho is ranked #22 at 15.1% and on the road the Steelheads convert on only 12.8% of their power play chances.
– When it comes to penalty kill both teams are outstanding. Idaho is ranked #2 (86.5%) and Allen is ranked #3 (86.4%). Win the special teams battle and you will most likely win the game.
HEAD TO HEAD
– Allen and Idaho played four times during the regular season with all four games taking place in a 10 day period back in December. Since these teams haven’t seen each other since December 19 and have very different lineups, it is hard to draw any conclusions from the four head to head games they have played but here is a brief recap:
December 9 in Allen – Riley Gill led Allen to ...