It took a third-period comeback and an overtime power-play goal for the Allen Americans to earn a 2-1 win over the Kansas City Mavericks last night. Allen's first win in five tries against the Mavericks this season was highlighted by outstanding goaltending from both teams. Allen goalie Jackson Parsons (.962 save percentage) and Kansas City goalie Jack LaFontaine (.947 save percentage) were the best players on the ice.
- Here are a few of the stats that contributed to the victory, and the odds the Americans overcame:
- Allen gave up the first goal and won the game against the team with the best record in the league when they score first (28-1-2-0, .917).
- Allen had nine power plays, including a long 5-on-3 and a power play during overtime, compared to Kansas City's four power plays.
- Allen won the special teams battle in a game where neither team scored an even-strength goal.
- Allen outshot Kansas City 38-26, including 15-7 in the third period and 6-1 in overtime.
- Allen snapped Kansas City's 16-game home winning streak, the 4th longest home winning streak in the history of the ECHL.
- Allen snapped Kansas City's 12-game winning streak, the 2nd longest in the ECHL this season. The longest of the season (14 games) is also held by the Mavericks.
- Allen overcame a 1-0 second-period deficit. It was the first time all season that Kansas City had blown a second-period lead. Their record when leading after the second period is 26-0-1-0.
- Odd stat of the day - In its first 47 games, Allen had four games decided in overtime and lost all of them. In its last 5 games, Allen has had 4 decided in overtime and has won 3 of them.
- The fourth minute proved to be the magic minute last night. All three goals were scored in the fourth minute:
- 4:41 - After a scoreless first period, Kansas City scored the first goal of the game at the 4:41 mark of the second period. David Cotton scored his 17th goal of the season. Marcus Crawford assisted on the goal. It was Crawford's 55th assist of the season and his 67th point. The all-star defenseman has a 10-point lead in the ECHL scoring race and has 15 more assists than any other player.
- 4:15 - Allen tied the score 1-1 at the 4:15 mark of the third period to start a comeback. It was a power play goal by Sam Stang, assisted by Brayden Watts and Ty Prefontaine. Stang has scored seven goals (3 in Florida, 4 in Allen) in 11 ECHL games. His goal-scoring pace would equate to 46 goals over a full season. Watts has been Allen's leading scorer over the last six games with 10 points.
- 4:58 - Allen finished its comeback at 4:58 of overtime with a power play goal by Michael Gildon, his 14th of the season. Colton Hargrove and Brayden Watts had the assists. Gildon's 14 goals are more than he has scored since 2018-19 when he played for the US National team.
- Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans and the video highlights with all of the goals and a bunch of great saves by both goalies.
- Game recap: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/02/game-recap-americans-end-kcs-long-winning-streak
- Video highlights:https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-kansas-city-mavericks-feb-27-2026
MARTINSON'S COMMENTS
I had a chance to talk to Coach Martinson this morning, and here is what he had to say:
"It was a big win against the best team in the league right now."
"We have to take more advantage of our power play opportunities. We need to generate more shots. That is what I will deal with at the meeting before the game tonight."
"The physical play should work to our advantage tonight in game three of the series. We are used to playing that way. I am not sure they are."
"I expect we will have the same lineup tonight as last night. Parsons will get the start in goal. McAuley is still day-to-day."
TONIGHT'S PREVIEW
- The rubber match of the series is tonight, and remember it is an early puck drop (6:05 pm CST). It will be another big challenge for the Americans. Kansas City has lost back-to-back games only once all season, and that was in late October. No doubt the Mavericks will come out strong tonight.
- Allen won last night even though they gave up the first goal. The Americans don't want to try to defy the odds again tonight. Even with the loss last night after scoring the first goal, Kansas City has the best record in the ECHL when scoring first, 28-2-2-0 (.906). Allen has given up the first goal in six of the last seven games and is asking for trouble if they give up the first goal tonight.
- The team that won the special teams battle won the first two games of the series, and that trend will likely continue tonight. Kansas City had a 2-1 edge in power-play goals on Wednesday, and Allen had a 2-1 edge last night. Allen had a 9-4 advantage in power play opportunities last, and a 15-9 advantage in the two games. These numbers tend to even out, so you might look for that tonight. If you look at the power play percentage in the series, Allen is at 20.0% (3-15), and Kansas City is at 33.3% (3-9).
- Here is the Allen Americans game preview/notes for tonight: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/02/game-day-preview-earlier-start-time-tonight-in-kc
OTHER COMMENTS
- Allen has two players in the top 15 in ECHL scoring, Brayden Watts is #4 with 52 points (17G, 35A), and Hank Crone is #15 with 46 points (12G, 34A). Sam Sedley is #5 among defensemen with 40 points (6G, 34A).
- There wasn't much change in the standings last night. Idaho was idle, so Allen gained on the Steelheads, and Tahoe won, so they are keeping pace with Allen. Here are the division standings by points with games played in parentheses.
- 85 points - Kansas City (52 games)
- 70 points - Idaho (53 games)
- 61 points - Allen (52 games)
- 59 points - Tahoe (53 games)
- 52 points - Wichita (50 games)
- 48 points - Rapid City (50 games)
- 47 points - Utah (53 games)
- 35 points - Tulsa (49 games)
- It is a huge night in the ECHL with all 30 teams in action. For the Mountain Division teams that are outside the top four spots, each game is critical. It is going to be very hard for Wichita and Rapid City to make the playoffs if they keep winning four or five games out of 10. Here are the Mountain Division match-ups tonight:
- Allen at Kansas City
- Rapid City at Tulsa
- Wichita at Idaho
- Tahoe at Utah
Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2026/02/echl-today-feb-28
- Andre Anania did not play in Iowa's 3-2 win in Grand Rapids last night. The teams play each other again tonight. In 49 games with Allen, Andre has 27 points (4G, 23A). He is #5 on the team in assists, #4 in plus/minus (+9), and #3 in PIM (50 minutes).
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about players with the most points combining 2024-25 and 2025-26. The Allen leaders are Hank Crone at #10 (110 points, 31G, 79A) and Brayden Watts at #11 (105 points, 36G, 69A).
LFG Allen 💪🏻
ReplyDeleteAt this point it is 100% obvious that Myles and JM made the right call to bring back Marty.
ReplyDeleteOn ice comments only please!
DeleteYou can only make the comment when Marty is officially on the ice - circa 25 seconds at the start and end of every period! 🤣
DeleteDo you know the line up for tonight
ReplyDeleteDid you even read the blog?
DeleteObviously not, or the statement we’ll use the same lineup tonight is confusing. SMH
DeleteHas anyone else found it odd how many slashing penalties in the series, especially KC? Surprised league hasn’t been assessing fines or suspensions based on precedence this season. Just a lot of stick penalties in the series overall.
ReplyDeletePrevalent all season long. Sydney Harris on a tear again with her whistle. She should not be at this level. Beyond terrible. Watch her when there's a fight or scuffle, she has zero control and just yells and swears at the players.
Delete5 slashing so far tonight.
Delete19 penalties tonight