Americans forward Jarret Lukin in action with Bees netminder John Murray. (Photo Credit: Chip Crail/CHLPhotos.com)
The Allen Americans got back to their winning ways this evening with a 4-2 victory over the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees in front of 5,638 at the Allen Event Center. The win improves the Americans record to 27-11-8 on the season and moves Allen to within two points of first place Wichita in the race for the Berry Conference lead.
Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the opening frame despite a combined 17 shots on net. Rejean Beauchemin finished the period with 8 saves on 8 shots while Killer Bees netminder John Murray stopped 9.
The second period saw the Americans take a 1-0 lead 4:39 into the frame when Jim McKenzie wristed Jason Deitsch’s feed from the corner past Murray. The goal was McKenzie’s sixteenth of the season.
Americans netminder Rejean Beauchemin makes a pad save against Rio Grande Valley. (Photo Credit: Chip Crail/CHLPhotos.com)
The Americans kept the pressure on the Bees and would add to their lead just 0:22 later when Trevor Hendrikx’s shot from in-between the circles found it’s way through Murray. Brian McMillin was credited with the lone assist on Hendrikx’s fourth of the season.
Through forty minutes of play in Allen, the Americans trailed the Killer Bees in shots 18-17.
Rio Grande Valley would begin the third stanza with over 8 consecutive minutes worth of powerplay time and would take advantage of the opportunity with powerplay tallies from Brandon Campos and Aaron Lee at 1:28 and 6:00, respectively, to knot the score at 2.
The score would not remained tied for long however, as Allen would take advantage of their own man advantage with 8:45 remaining in regulation when Matt Register’s shot from the point found it’s way through traffic and into the back of the net. The tally was Register’s first of the season and first goal of his professional career.
With Murray on the bench in favor of the extra-attacker, Mark Nebus would end any hopes of a Killer Bees comeback with an empty-net goal with 15.8 seconds remaining in regulation. Jarret Lukin and Scott Langdon were credited with the assists on the goal.
Rejean Beauchemin finished the night with 28 saves on 30 shots to improve to 13-5-4 on the season.
The lines for tonight were:
McKenzie-Deitsch-Hepditch
McMillin-Lukin-Nebus
Martens-Layton-Pineault
Clouthier
Langdon-Hendrikx
Berube-King
Register-Ludwig
Beauchemin
The box score can be found here.
Quick Hits
- The Killer Bees outshot the Americans 30-25. .
- Jim McKenzie led all skaters with 2 points (1g, 1a) on the night.
- Matt Register’s goal was his first point as an American.
- The Americans finish the season with a 7-1-2 record against Rio Grande Valley.
- Jarret Lukin extended his point streak to 5 games with an assist on the night. Lukin has registered 6 points (1g, 5a) during the streak.
- Jason Deitsch was named the Americans captain prior to this weekend’s games.
- Jim McKenzie (1), Rejean Beauchemin (2) and Aaron Lee (3) were named the game’s three stars.
Up Next
The Americans will now welcome the Texas Brahmas to town for a Valentine’s Day showdown on Tuesday night at 7:05 PM before hitting the road for a pair of games with Turner Conference teams beginning on Friday night in Dayton against the Gems.
