Americans Open Series against Utah Tonight
January 10, 2024 - ECHL (ECHL)
Allen Americans News Release
Allen Americans defenseman Justin Allen and goaltender Leevi Merilainen vs. the Utah Grizzlies
(Allen Americans, Credit: Dave Dudich)
Dallas/Allen, Texas - The Allen Americans, ECHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators (NHL), and Belleville Senators (AHL), open a three-game series tonight against the Utah Grizzlies. The Americans are 2-2-0 this year against Utah, and 1-0 at CUTX Event Center.
Allen Americans Tonight:
Pregame Show: 6:50 PM CST
Puck Drop: 7:10 PM CST
Watch Live: FLOHOCKEY.TV
Listen Live: AMERICANS 24/7
On the Call: Tommy Daniels and Maurice Fitzgerald
Next Home Game: 1/12/24 vs. Utah, 7:10 PM CST
Ottawa sends skilled forward to Allen: The Ottawa Senators, assigned forward Tarun Fizer, to the Americans from AHL affiliate Belleville. Fizer played in 12 games this season for Belleville. Last year in 62 ECHL games he had 50 points. He will make his Allen debut tonight.
Head-to-Head: The Americans are 2-2-0 against Utah this season. The two teams have split two, two-game series, with Allen winning 5-3 on December 8th at the Maverik Center, and 3-2 on December 1st in Allen.
Merilainen's win streak continued: Ottawa Senators prospect Leevi Merilainen, won his fifth straight start last Sunday, with a 5-1 victory over the Wichita Thunder. Merilainen has allowed two total goals over his last two starts, with a 0.975 save percentage. The native of Finland has 2.88 goals against average with a 0.928 save percentage in 12 starts this season with the Americans. He is expected to get the start for Allen against Utah on Wednesday night.
Two Touchdowns on the board: Hank Crone continued his domination on opposing goaltenders scoring his 13th goal of the season on Sunday night to extend his point streak to a season-high 14 games. Crone scored on a breakaway goal midway through the second period to beat Wichita netminder Georgi Romanov. He finished the night with a goal and an assist on Nolan Orzeck's first goal of the game. Crone has a breakaway goal in three straight games. He had 21 points in the month of December, and six points so far in January. He leads the Americans in scoring with 37 points.
Walker set to return tonight: Johnny Walker hasn't played in a game since December 2nd due to injury. He's expected to return to the Americans lineup tonight against his former team. Walker has three points in four games this season for Allen. The Phoenix, Arizona resident had 18 points in 33 games last year for the Utah Grizzlies.
Series Sweep: The Americans completed the three-game sweep of the Wichita Thunder last Sunday, with a 5-1 victory at Intrust Bank Arena. Nolan Orzeck had his second two-goal game of the season that day. Orzeck has six points in his last four games (2 goals and 4 assists). Gavin Gould remains hot scoring his 4th of the season on Sunday. He has three goals in his last five games. Hank Crone (13) and Blake Murray (12) also lit the lamp for the Americans. Despite being outshot the Americans dominated the three-game series outscoring Wichita 14-6 in the series and improved to 4-1-0 against Wichita this season and 3-0 at Intrust Bank Arena.
Comparing Allen and Utah
Allen Americans
Home: 6-8-0
Away: 10-9-1
Overall: 16-17-1
Last 10: 8-2-0-0
Allen Americans Leaders:
Goals: (16) Colby McAuley
Assists: (24) Hank Crone
Points: (37) Hank Crone
+/-: (+16) Blake Murray
PIM's: (68) Jordan-Ty Fournier
Utah Grizzlies:
Home: 11-6-0-0
Away: 3-10-4-0
Overall: 12-19-0-0
Last 10: 1-13-0-0
Utah Grizzlies Leaders:
Goals: (11) Brandon Cutler
Assists: (21) Brett Stapley
Points: (27) Brett Stapley
+/-: (+6) Bryan Yoon
PIM's (51) Brandon Cutler
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Images from this story
 Allen Americans defenseman Justin Allen and goaltender Leevi Merilainen vs. the Utah Grizzlies (Dave Dudich) |
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