Shots from the Point for January 6, 2014

January 6, 2014 - Central Hockey League (CHL) Three Things You Need to Know

1.) Walls Closing in at the Top- After two straight wins by the Allen Americans over the Rapid City Rush this past weekend, things have tightened up significantly at the top of the conference. The Rush (22-7-0) drop back-to-back games for the second time since Christmas and are just 2-4-0 in that span. They currently have a three point lead over the Missouri Mavericks (20-9-1) who have also lost two straight contests. The movers are the Americans (19-10-2) who have won five straight games and the Denver Cutthroats (16-9-6) who have won three straight games. Quad City (16-7-5) is in fifth place but only seven points behind the leaders and they have played the fewest games of any CHL team (28). The Flock are 9-3-1 at home and they begin a three-game home stand on Wednesday versus Brampton.

2.) Americans Keep Rolling- The Allen Americans (19-10-2) are the hottest team in the CHL with wins in five straight games including back-to-back triumphs this past weekend over the league's top team, the Rapid City Rush. The wins for Allen ended the Rush's CHL record 12-game road winning streak. After a 7-0-1 start to the season, the Americans struggled to the tune of a 5-8-1 mark between Nov. 3 and Dec. 13. However, since Mid-December the defending champs have been nearly unbeatable winning seven of their last nine games. Defenseman Tyler Ludwig has picked up his game with six goals over his last four contests and Kale Kerbashian has two goals and three assists over his last four games. In goal, Bryan Pitton has been hot winning six of his last seven starts while not allowing a team to score more than three goals over that stretch. Allen will look for their sixth straight win on Frida y night when they host Denver (16-9-6).

3.) Beast Trip Continues- The Brampton Beast (16-14-2) continue their six-game road trip on Tuesday with a rescheduled match-up with St. Charles (8-21-4). The game was originally scheduled for Sunday (1/5/14) but had to be rescheduled due to a snow storm in the St. Charles area. The Beast are 2-0 on their journey so far with back-to-back wins in Missouri. The trip will go through Quad City on Wednesday and then concludes with back-to-back games in Tulsa this weekend. Scott Howes had six goals and two assists in the two games in Missouri, good enough to earn him Oakley Player of the Week honors. Rob Collins has been a force as well with three goals and four assists in those contests.

By the Numbers

12: The number of times in 13 decisions that Quad City goalie Thomas Heemskerk has earned at least a point for his team. The netminder is 9-1-3 on the season with a 2.50 goals against average (second in the CHL) and a .919 save % (fourth in the CHL). Heemskerk has won four straight decisions allowing just six total goals over that span while recording two shutouts.

One-Timers

-Denver's Kent Patterson is 4-0-1 in his last five decisions facing 41+ shots in four of those five games. Over his hot streak, Patterson has stopped 194 of the 205 shots he has faced (.946 save %). He is 11-6-4 on the season with a .916 save %.

-After winning four straight games, the Wichita Thunder (11-17-4) have now dropped three straight games including back-to-back decisions over the weekend to Arizona. The Thunder do have the league's top two scoring defensemen with Jesse Dudas leading the way with 26 points (8-18&) and Andrew Martens sitting second with 24 points (5-19$).

-The Arizona Sundog (12-18-1) have gotten some pop lately with a couple new additions with Brandon Coccimiglio scoring seven goals in seven games and David Rutherford contributing six points (4-2=6) in three games. Coccimiglio was acquired from Tulsa and Rutherford was signed a free agent. Forward Kevin Baker has also been hot with goals in four straight games, three of those were wins for the Sundogs.

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Shots from the Point for January 6, 2014