Blaze Beat Americans
November 27, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Allen Americans News Release
Bloomington, Illinois - Facing off in Bloomington Saturday night were two teams at opposite ends of the spectrum. The Allen Americans were looking to improve upon their first place standing and gain some separation from second place Wichita in the Berry Conference, while Bloomington was looking to end their 12-game losing streak. Saturday night's game would also mark the debut start in goal of James Reid for the Allen Americans, after being reassigned by the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL this week.
A quiet first period saw both teams go into the first intermission scoreless, as Allen outshot Bloomington 10-7. Kyle Laughlin then opened the scoring for Bloomington, breaking the scoreless tie at 7:36 of the second period, giving the Blaze the 1-0 lead. The score remained unchanged through the second period and shots on goal were 24-23, with Allen holding the slight edge. The Americans finally broke their drought in the third period, when Keith Johnson scored his second goal in two nights at the 1:11 mark of the third period. Bruce Graham and Colton Yellow Horn were credited with the assists on the tying goal. Brian McMillin continued his hot streak with his third goal in two nights, extending the Americans lead 2-1 at 8:00 of the third period off passes from Jim McKenzie and Colton Yellow Horn, for Yellow Horn's second point of the night. Nick Layton added some cushion for the Americans at 14:15, when he scored off a pass from Brett Clouthier, giving Allen the 3-1 lead. That cushion wasn't enough to hold back the Blaze however, and they answered back just 13 seconds later when Mike Zbriger cut the Americans lead to one at 14:28 with an unassisted goal. Mark Znutas then tied the game for Bloomington on his goal, with 2:49 remaining in regulation. With 2:14 remaining, Jason Deitsch was sent off for boarding, giving the Blaze their best opportunity of the night. Making quick work of it was Jon Booras, scoring the game winner for Bloomington 14 seconds into the man advantage at the 18:00 mark where the final score would remain 4-3. Allen outshot the Blaze 35-33 in the loss.
"The loss was a tough pill to swallow," said Americans forward Brett Cloutier, "When you're up two goals with five minutes to go, it's unacceptable for us not to walk away with the two points...In my years of playing hockey, I've been through losses like this, and with this group of guys I know we can learn from it and bounce back."
The Americans now return home to Allen to prepare for a pair of back to back games against the Texas Brahmas at the NYTEX Sports Arena, next Friday and Saturday night.
Central Hockey League Stories from November 27, 2011
- Bloomington Blaze Weekly - Bloomington Blaze
- Blaze Beat Americans - Allen Americans
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