The Allen Americans closed out 2011 tonight with a thrilling 3-2 come from behind victory over the Laredo Bucks in front of 5,046 at the Allen Event Center. The victory improves the Americans record to 17-6-6 (40 points) on the season.
The first period saw no scoring as both goaltenders stood tall. Marco Cousineau finished the frame with 8 saves while Bucks netminder Ryan Rondeau stopped 3.
Laredo forward Matt Pierce struck for a pair of goals at 1:01 and 2:08 of the middle frame to give the Bucks a 2-0 lead, but the Americans would fight back and get on the board when Bruce Graham’s backhander on the powerplay midway through the period slipped past Rondeau to cut Laredo’s lead to 2-1. Tyler Ludwig and Jason Deitsch were credited with the assists on the play.
Seconds after Marco Cousineau foiled a Laredo 4-on-1 odd man rush opportunity, Bruce launched a wrist shot into the back of the net to knot the score at 2. The goal was Graham’s sixteenth of the season.
Through forty minutes of play in Allen, the Americans led the Bucks in shots 18-11.
Just when it appeared that the Americans and Bucks would be heading to overtime for the second straight night, Keith Johnson poked a loose puck into a wide open net to give the Americans a 3-2 lead with just 0:43 remaining. Bruce Graham and Dominic D’Amour were credited with the assists on the play.
The Americans defense would shut the Bucks down the rest of the way giving Allen the 3-2 win.
Marco Cousineau finished the night with 16 saves on 18 shots to improve to 11-2-2 on the season.
The lines for tonight were:
McKenzie-Deitsch-Lukin
Johnson-Graham-Yellow Horn
MacIntosh-Layton-McMillin
Clouthier
Berube-Ludwig
Hendrikx-D’Amour
Jordan-Hepditch
Cousineau
The box score can be found here.
Quick Hits
- The Americans outshot the Bucks 33-18.
- Bruce Graham led all skaters with 3 points (2g, 1a) on the night.
- Jarret Lukin has registered 7 points (4g, 3a) over his past 5 games played.
- The Americans are 3-0-0 all time on New Year’s Eve.
- Bruce Graham extended his league leading point streak to 12 games with 3 points tonight. Graham has tallied 18 points (5g, 13a) during the streak.
- Keith Johnson (1), Bruce Graham (2) and Tyler Ludwig (3) were named the game’s three stars.
Up Next
The Americans and Bucks will continue their five game set next Friday night in Allen at 7:05 PM before heading to Laredo for a pair of games at the Laredo Energy Arena on Saturday and Sunday.
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