Allen completes two-game Thunder sweep
The Thunder’s inconsistent scoring over the past two weeks of hockey is the byproduct, according to coach Malcolm Cameron, of a more concerning unreliable quality.
After the Thunder’s 4-1 loss to Allen on Sunday at Intrust Bank Arena, Cameron decried lack of effort that often seems to coincide with poor scoring output.
Wichita was outscored by Allen 10-2 in two weekend games and narrowly avoided being shutout for the second time in the last five games. In the other two games in that stretch, the Thunder totaled nine goals, but those five games were preceded by a 2-1 win at Rapid City.
“Work,” Cameron said. “We’re the most inconsistent team I’ve ever seen as far as work ethic. I’ve never seen anything like it, it’s crazy. The brain shuts down when you don’t work, and you look at the goals we gave up … we used to be a good third-period team, but now we’re (not) because we don’t work.”
Allen scored three goals in the final period, highlighting the most glaring Thunder weaknesses.
Greger Hanson scored about five minutes into the third period for Allen on the power play, the Americans’ second power-play goal of the night and the seventh Wichita has surrendered over the past three games.
The Thunder used to call its special teams a strength, but lately Wichita has been unable to score on the power play and often unable to stop the opponents from doing so. Allen scored on both power-play opportunities on Sunday while Wichita was 0 for 4 and has converted one of its last 29.
“Lazy. Just lazy,” Cameron said. “We worked hard at both of those things two week ago, now you see it spiraling from five-on-five into (special teams). One of those (goals) went off a guy’s skate. There’s not much you can do about that, but that seems to be what happens when you don’t work.”
Sunday’s third period also exposed the Thunder’s failure – when things aren’t going well – to recover from a misstep. Wichita began the third with a flurry of close-range shots, but that was limited and playmaking opportunities were mostly scarce from that point.
Allen, meanwhile surged following the power-play goal early in the third. The Americans frequently had man-advantages in the offensive zone and dismissed the Thunder’s rush by clearing the puck away.
“We had so many rushes blow up tonight because guys started to coast, guys started to glide,” Cameron said. “… It’s my job to figure out who the guys are who are going to be here when it’s all said and done.”
Allen has defeated the Thunder in three of four meetings this season and dominated Wichita over the last several seasons. Allen has won league championships the last four seasons – two in the Central Hockey League, two in the ECHL, but Cameron insists the Thunder isn’t intimidated.
“We can beat that hockey team,” Cameron said. “But you’ve got to work to do it. You can’t give a skilled team that many odd-man rushes. Our execution today was so poor today.”
Allen | 0 | 1 | 3 | — | 4 |
Wichita | 0 | 0 | 1 | — | 1 |
First period
Penalties—Allen, Hall (tripping), 1:56; Wichita, Leveille (high-sticking), 19:59.
Second period
Scoring—1. Allen, Hanson PP (Costello, Makowski), 0:46. Penalties—Allen, Moore (slashing), 12:10; Allen, Moore (unsportsmanlike conduct), 16:02; Wichita, Nelson (unsportsmanlike conduct), 16:02; Allen, Marchment (fighting major), 18:12; Wichita, Nelson (fighting major), 18:12.
Third period
Scoring—2. Allen, Hanson PP (Costello, Chouinard), 4:54; 3. Allen, Costello (Hanson, Asuchak), 9:43; 4. Wichita, Doornbosch (Arseneau, Leveille), 12:51; 5. Allen, Moore empty-net (Costello, Chouinard), 18:17.
Power play—Allen 2-2, Wichita 0-4; Shots—Allen 10-7-12—29, Wichita 12-14-17—43. Saves—Allen, Murray 42-43; Wichita, Driedger 25-28.
T—2:29. A—3,215.
This story was originally published December 18, 2016 at 7:51 PM with the headline "Allen completes two-game Thunder sweep."