Allen Loses 5-4, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Martinson Comments, Today's Preview and Lineup, Katic Joins 30 Goal Club and More

 

The Allen Americans lost to the South Carolina Stingrays 5-4 last night in a similar fashion to the Americans' 5-3 loss on Friday. Anthony Rinaldi was acquired by South Carolina at the trade deadline and scored at the 3:48 mark of the first period on Friday. He bettered that last night, scoring at the 3.14 mark of the first period. Just like on Friday, the Americans spent the entire game trying to come back from deficits. 

• After trailing 2-0, they tied the score.
• After trailing 4-2, they cut the score to 4-3
• After trailing 5-3, they cut the score to 5-4

 

- Allen never gave up, worked until the end, but the bottom line was another loss. In six periods over two games, Allen has yet to have a lead. In 120 minutes of playing time, the Americans have been tied for 25 minutes and trailed for 95 minutes. Here are the stats from last night:

• Allen gave up the 1st goal, record is 11-21-2-0 (.353)
• Allen trailed after the 1st period, record is 5-17-2-0 (.250)
• Allen trailed after the 2nd period, record is 3-18-2-0 (.174)
• Allen was outshot 39-29
• Allen was 0-3 on the power play
• Allen was 1-4 on the penalty kill, but scored a shorthanded goal

It is hard to win under the circumstances above, even though Allen hung in right to the end of the game.  

 

- Goal scorers for Allen were Danny Katic (29, 30), Harrison Blaisdell (21), Michael Gildon (16). Andre Anania had two assists. Here are the video highlights and the goal-by-goal recaps from both teams: 

• Video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-south-carolina-stingrays-mar-21-2026 
• Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/03/game-recap-americans-lose-heartbreaker-in-south-carolina 
• South Carolina Stingrays: https://stingrayshockey.com/news/2026/03/stingrays-punch-ticket-to-postseason-with-5-4-win-over-allen 

 

COACH MARTINSON'S COMMENTS

"We didn't play as well last night as we did on Friday. We took 67 shots, 22 were blocked, 17 missed the net, and 28 were on goal. 

 "We managed only four shots on goal on three power plays and no goals. I am going to make some changes to the power play for the game today."

"We had too many breakdowns on the goals. Sometimes players just get beaten, and that happens. What we need to avoid is bad positioning and bad decisions. When a defenseman makes a mistake around the net, everyone notices, but usually, there have been several mistakes before the last one."

"I expect we will get more help before the Utah series next week."  

 

TODAY'S PREVIEW

- If Allen is going to salvage two points from this series, a few things will need to happen. Allen needs to score first and avoid playing from behind like in the first two games. The defense needs to be better. Giving up five goals like the first two games will spell defeat. Finally, the Americans need to be better on the power play. In the first two games, the Americans were 1-6 (16.7%), and South Carolina was 3-7 (42.9%).

The only lineup change today is Jackson Parsons will start in goal. The number of minutes to be qualified for league stats just went up to 1200 minutes. Parsons is at 1079 minutes and could be qualified by the end of next week. If he were qualified, Parsons' save percentage of .925 would rank #5 in the league. 

 UPDATE: Add Susuyev to the injured list along with Crone and Maxwell. Allen will be two forwards short this afternoon:

- Today's lineup:

Forwards

11 Barbashyov - 7 Hargrove - 92 McAuley 

9 Katic - 91 Gildon - 29 Watts

77 Sillinger - 18 Blaisdell -14 Gursoy  

4 Apollon

 

Defense

86 Anania - 22 Costantini

8 Prefontaine - 2 Warmuth

25 LeDonne - 21 Decker

 

Goalies

31 Parsons 

32 Mirwald (backup)

 

OTHER COMMENTS

 - Danny Katic joined the exclusive Allen Americans' 30-goal scorers club last night. It has happened 15 times since 2009-10. Chad Costello and Bruce Graham did it twice.  

• 49 goals - Hank Crone (2022-23)
• 44 goals - Gary Steffes (2014-15) 
• 41 goals - Chad Costello (2014-15) 
• 39 goals - Colton Hargrove (2022-23) 
• 36 goals - Jack Combs (2022-23)  
• 35 goals - Greger Hanson (2016-17)  
• 34 goals - Bruce Graham (2010-11)
• 34 goals - Nino Musitello (2010-11)
• 34 goals - Zach Pochiro (2018-19)
• 33 goals - Chad Costello (2016-17)
• 33 goals - Colton Yellow Horn (2010-11)
• 33 goals - Liam Finlay (2022-23) 
• 31 goals - Bruce Graham (2009-10)
• 30 goals - Corey Mackin (2020-21)
• 30 goals - Danny Katic (2025-26) - 12 games remaining

 

- Sam Stange scored four goals in the second period last night as Florida beat Orlando 9-2. Stange's goal-scoring pace is the second-best in the league (see DID YOU KNOW below). Sam had five goals in eight games with Allen and has eight goals in 10 games in Florida. Oddly enough, he has only scored in three of his 10 games in Florida. His four-goal game last night, a hat trick and a one-goal game.

 

- Tahoe beat Toledo last night and has closed the gap to third-place Allen to four points. Allen has 12 games remaining, Tahoe 11. Here are the remaining schedules with home (H) and away (A) plus the opponents' points percentage:

• ALLEN
• 1 game (A) - South Carolina (.680)
• 2 games (A) - Utah (.444)
• 3 games (H) - Greensboro (.350) 
• 3 games (1H, 2A) - Wichita (.492)
• 2 games (H) - Tahoe (.533)
• 1 game (H) - Kansas City (.811)

• TAHOE
• 1 game (A) - Toledo (.683)
• 5 games (3H, 2A) - Rapid City (.458)
• 3 games (H) - Cincinnati (.517)
• 2 games (A) - Allen (.575)

The battle for third and fourth place may come down to the last games of the season. Allen has seven of its 12 remaining games at home. Tahoe has six of 11 at home. Mark your calendar for April 10 &11 when Tahoe comes to Allen for two games. Those two games could very well decide playoff seedings. 

 

- It is a busy Sunday afternoon in the ECHL with 11 games on the schedule. Four Mountain Division teams are in action, all against opponents from other divisions and all on the road:

• Allen at South Carolina
• Rapid City at Kalamazoo
• Utah at Indy
• Tahoe at Toledo  

Atlanta can become the fourth team to qualify for the playoffs with a win today and a Greenville loss. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2026/03/echl-today-march-22 

 

- Kansas City has 48 wins and will likely hit 50 wins next week. It will be just the 11th time since 2008-09 that a team has had 50 regular-season wins. The Mavericks had 54 wins in 2023-24 and 52 wins in 2015-16. The odd stat is that none of the 11 teams that have hit the 50-win milestone since 2008-09 went on to win the Kelly Cup.    

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Seven ECHL players are averaging .50 or more goals per game (minimum 13 goals). In parentheses are the total goals for a full season (72 games) at the player’s pace:

 

.73 - Brendan Hoffmann, Idaho (53)

.72 - Sam Stange, Florida (52)

.68 - Josh Bloom, Fort Wayne (49)

.60 - Danny Katic, Allen (43)

.58 - Bobo Carpenter, Kansas City (42)

.51 - Kyle Crnkovic, Wichita (37)

.51 - Sloan Stanick, Tahoe (37)