The Allen Americans traded goals with the South Carolina Stingrays the entire game last night. Unfortunately, the goals started and ended with the Stingrays and led to a 5-3 Allen loss. The game was not decided until an empty net goal put the nail in the coffin with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
- In the series preview yesterday, two of the biggest keys were scoring first and winning the special teams battle. Allen didn't accomplish either:
- Allen's record when they score first is one of the best in the league, 21-2-3-0 (.865). When they give up the first goal, the Americans' record is a paltry 11-20-2-0 (.364).
- Allen hadn't given up a power-play goal in the last four games before last night. While the Americans scored a power-play goal (1-3), they gave up two (2-3) and lost the special teams battle. More often than not, that spells defeat, and it did last night.
- Allen fell behind early in the first period (3:48) but struck back at the 7:00 minute mark. Danny Katic scored a power play goal to tie the score 1-1. Assists went to Andre Anania and Colby McAuley. It was Katic's 28th goal (#3 in the ECHL) and ninth power play goal (#3 in the ECHL). It was his 28th goal on 112 shots, which is a shooting percentage of 25.0% (#1 in the league).
- South Carolina struck again in the back-and-forth battle at the 16:57 mark of the first period and carried a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. It was another bad sign from the keys to the game. South Carolina's record when leading after the first period is 19-3-1-0 (.848). Allen's record when trailing after the first period is 5-16-2-0 (.261).
- Despite the odds, Allen fought back in the second period, outshooting the Stingrays 15-9. The Americans scored the only goal of the second period to tie the score 2-2. Kevin Gursoy scored his second goal of the season, assisted by Brayden Watts and Katic.
- The back and forth continued in the third period. South Carolina took a 3-2 lead at the 8:10 mark on its second power-play goal of the game. Allen responded just 20 seconds later (8:30) on Colby McAuley's 19th goal of the season, assisted by Colton Hargrove, and the score was tied once again (3-3). Two minutes after the McAuley goal the Stingrays took the lead for the final time. The Americans could not get the equalizer and pulled goalie Jackson Parsons early (17:52). It took South Carolina just 17 seconds to score into an empty net and make the final score 5-3.
- Allen showed they could play with South Carolina. They outshot the Stingrays 31-23 and came back from 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 deficits to tie the game. The Americans could never grab the lead once they fell behind, but they do have something to build on for the game tonight.
- Here are the game recaps from both teams and the video highlights:
- Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/03/game-recap-americans-fall-5-3-in-south-carolina
- South Carolina Stingrays: https://stingrayshockey.com/news/2026/03/stingrays-skate-by-americans-5-3
- Video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-south-carolina-stingrays-mar-20-2026
- I had a chance to check in with Coach Martinson this morning to get his thoughts on the game. He had already gone through all of the InStat analytics and was going through all of the goals to put together the video clips he will use in his pregame meetings. Here is what he had to say:
"We should have won that game. The analytics show we had a 57% to 43% advantage in puck possession. We took more shots, 74-45, had more shots on goal, 39-24."
"Faceoffs, especially at critical times, have been hurting us. Faceoffs were 32-23 (58% to 42%) in favor of South Carolina."
"I want our defensemen to be aggressive and pinch to keep puck possession, but they can't do that if all three forwards are low. One forward should be high to help out the defenseman, but if they are not, you can't pinch. That happened several times in the game and led to 2-on-one rushes."
"Our penalty kill wasn't very good, and the penalties we took weren't very smart. The referees were calling slashing penalties, and we slashed guys."
"We have a couple of guys who are doubtful for the game tonight. We will see how they are this morning. We could be playing short tonight."
- I often get comments about which goalie is playing or should be playing in a particular game. I know Martinson sees save percentage as a big factor in looking at goalies. But there are other factors he considers in addition to straight save percentage when he is comparing goalies. One of these is the number of power plays. Because Allen has a good penalty kill, a lot of penalties will improve the save percentage. On the flip side, a power play goal like the 5-on-3 in the Idaho game also factors in. I also know, after all these years of writing the blog, that Martinson also factors in the intangibles when comparing players at all positions. Work ethic is an important value, as well as being a good teammate.
- Marco Costantini will get the start in goal tonight. If Allen can clean up the penalty kill, still be aggressive pinching, but at the right times, score the first goal, and improve the faceoff percentage, they will win. I will post the lineup for tonight later today.
UPDATE: Here is the lineup for the game tonight. Crone and Maxwell are out. Martinson has added a player from the FPHL Pee Dee Icecats. Divyne Apollon is a 20-year-old, 6'3", 249-pound forward who will drop the gloves.
- Here is the game preview/notes from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/03/game-day-preview-earlier-start-time-in-sc
OTHER COMMENTS
- Allen got some help despite the loss last night. Tahoe lost to Toledo, so the Americans maintain their six-point lead for third place in the division and have a game in hand. However, any hope of reaching second place continues to evaporate. Idaho won last night and is now 10 points ahead of Allen. Here are the Mountain Division standings with games remaining in parentheses. I think it is possible, and will go out on a limb and say it is probable that the final standings order will be exactly the same as today:
- Here are some stats that continue to amaze:
- Brendan Hoffmann, Idaho, still leads the ECHL in goals (32) even though he has been in the AHL since February 11.
- Marcus Crawford, Kansas City, continues his march toward the ECHL MVP. As a defenseman, he leads the league in points by 14 (77-63). He leads all defensemen by 29 points (77-48).
- Danny Katic leads the league in shooting percentage at 25.0%. You don't normally see a player with a lot of shots maintain a 25% average (28-112). Danny also led the league in shooting percentage last season when he played for Bloomington. You only need 34 shots to qualify for this stat, and he had 43 shots. He scored 13 goals on those 43 shots for a league leading 30.2% shooting percentage.
- It will be another busy night in the ECHL with 14 games on tap. South Carolina can become the third team to clinch a playoff spot tonight, joining Kansas City and Florida. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2026/03/echl-today-march-21
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today highlights two impressive things. First, the season defenseman Marcus Crawford is having is historic. This highlights his assist totals. Second, it reminds us of yet another stat that shows Chad Costello as one of the best ECHL players of all-time. I could list a bunch of stats that show why he should be in the ECHL Hall of Fame.
LFG Red!
ReplyDeleteMarty is building something special.
We can play with the best.
We need to win the remaining 2 games in SC.
Apollon is an old school goon. Reminiscent of the CHL days. Be looking for him to make his presence known early.
ReplyDeleteVery excited to watch him i hope he drops gloves with the guys who hurt crone and maxwell
DeleteI didn’t get to see yesterdays game. I saw Hargrove had a fighting major, and I see that we are short tonight due to injuries. What happened?
DeleteMaxwell got elbowed in the face and crone got boarded
DeleteApollon was playing in the NAHL at this point last year,guy will be playing rec league before he’s even old enough to legally buy a beer
DeleteKatic was such a great pickup hope he comes back next season!!
ReplyDelete100% agree.
DeleteTalk about a conspiracy within the ECHL.
ReplyDeleteHow on gods earth do we have James Kraft again as referee who decided to be whistle happy and call 2 penalties in the final minutes against Idaho. I guess what was called last week is no longer a call. What a total buffoon.
We should have won the last 4 games. Sooooo close.
ReplyDeleteKatic needs to be retained at all costs. What a star. Tough, rugged, gets to the net constantly, such a winner. Unbelievable Belleville hasn’t called him up.
ReplyDelete