The Allen Americans didn't just win on Sunday; they issued a firm reminder of who they can be if everything clicks. The Americans finally remembered they're allowed to score first and then never stopped. When it was all over, the Americans had the Stingrays tangled in their own net and salvaged the final game of the series with a 7-1 win. And they did it all playing shorthanded.
- All of the things that went wrong in the first two games of the series went right yesterday.
- Allen scored first after allowing the first goal on Friday and Saturday.
- Allen never trailed in the game after never leading in the first two games.
- Allen was outscored 2-1 in the 1st period in the first two games, but outscored South Carolina 3-1 on Sunday.
- Allen led 3-1 after the first period, 6-1 after the second period.
- Allen was 1-6 (16.7%) on the power play in the first two games and 3-6 (50%) on Sunday.
- Allen had the fewer penalty minutes yesterday. The Americans had 10 penalty minutes, South Carolina had 26.
- Allen outshot South Carolina 17-6 in the first period on Sunday.
- Allen shut down the high-scoring South Carolina offense after it scored 10 goals in the first two games, allowing just one goal
- Scoring first was huge for the Americans. Harrison Blaisdell scored his 22nd goal of the season at the 5:31 mark of the first period. Allen is dominant when they score first, which they have done only 44% of the time. The Americans are #2 in the league when they score first, with a record of 22-2-3-0 (.870).
- The game really turned on back-to-back power play goals at 9:46 and 11:02 of the first period. Danny Katic scored his 31st goal of the season and 10th power play goal, followed by Colton Hargrove notching his 19th goal of the season and seventh power play goal. These two players account for 35% of Allen's power-play goals this season. Their goals yesterday were typical of their power play goals. Katic's was close to the net, and Hargrove's was a rocket from the top of the circle.
- Allen had a 3-0 lead just over halfway through the first period and never looked back. Allen added three more goals in the second period by Harrison Blaisdell (23), Michael Gildon (23), and Colby McAuley (20). Gildon added his 19th goal of the season in the third period to make the final score 7-1. The six-goal margin of victory matched the largest of the season. Allen beat Tulsa 7-1 and 6-0 earlier in the season.
- Here are the game recaps and video highlights. The highlights include all of the goals and the scrum in the third period that resulted in a bunch of penalties. Several of the Allen goals are highlight reel worthy. You can back them up 10 seconds to watch them over and over, and appreciate all of the skill.
- Video Highlights: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-south-carolina-stingrays-mar-22-2026
- Allen Americans game recap: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/03/americans-crush-stingrays-7-1
- South Carolina Stingrays game recap: https://stingrayshockey.com/news/2026/03/south-carolina-drops-final-meeting-with-allen-7-1
COACH MARTINSON COMMENTS
I had a chance to talk to Coach Martinson before the team headed to the airport this morning. This is what he shared:
"Sedley is on his way back to Allen, and we could get an additional 1-3 players by Thursday. Simmons-Fischer will not return this week. Crone and Maxwell will not make the trip to Utah. Asuchak has started skating and could return for the Greensboro series.
"I showed a video of the defensive breakdowns before the game, but the difference in the game is that we worked hard and tightened up the defense."
"We played well with the puck on Saturday, but did not work as hard on defense. That changed on Sunday, when we played harder when we didn't have the puck."
"Scoring on the power play early in the game is a big plus; it gives you energy and a great attitude. Those two power play goals back-to-back were big after we made some adjustments for the game. If we don't score on the first couple of power plays, the guys can get frustrated, and that isn't good."
OTHER COMMENTS
- The Americans will fly home this afternoon and have the day off tomorrow. However, Coach Martinson has arranged an optional practice and will have Max Gratchev, who owns a well-known East Coast skills development company (MaxPro Hockey). He will work with any interested players at the optional practice tomorrow. It is a great opportunity for players to work on skating technique and skill development. Here is a little info about Gratchev:
- 4th round draft choice of the New York Islanders in 2004.
- His MaxPro Skills program explicitly trains skating as a core pillar along with puck skills and gameplay.
- His methodology blends Russian-style skating (fluid edges, agility) with North American power skating (speed, strength).
- He is not just a general skills coach, he is very much in that category of high-end skating and skills development coaches, even if he doesn't brand himself strictly as a "skating coach" like some specialists do.
- He works heavily on edge work and skating mechanics, and teaches skating within game situations. not just isolated drills.
- Coach Martinson has always found resources in the community that provide volunteer time, which can help develop players over and above what most ECHL teams can provide. It has been a stepping stone to the NHL in the past. Here are some examples:
- Luke Chilcott: Luke was Allen's skating coach for several years, starting in 2015 when the Americans won their first Kelly Cup. From his work with Allen, he became the skating coach of Allen's NHL/AHL affiliate (San Jose). Since 2022-23, Luke has been the Dallas Stars skating coach.
- Thomas Speer: Thomas was Allen's goalie coach for their first three championships. He went on to coach in the US National development program, the AHL (Stockton Heat), and has been the goalie coach for the San Jose Sharks since 2023-24
- Jeremy Yoblonski: Jeremy had a 15-year pro career as one of the toughest enforcers in the AHL, ECHL, and KHL. He won a Calder Cup and Kelly Cup. Jeremy was also a novice boxing champion and mixed martial arts fighter. He has attended Allen practices many times over the years to work with players on fighting techniques. Jeremy now owns a security company.
- Gratchev is yet another one of these great resources that Coach Martinson has found to help. He recently moved to North Texas.
- The Mountain Division standings are about the same after the results yesterday. Allen, Tahoe, and Utah won; Rapid City lost. Here is the update, game remaining in parentheses:
- Allen players in the ECHL top 10:
- #2 goals - Danny Katic (31)
- #2 PP goals - Danny Katic (10)
- #2 assists - Brayden Watts (41)
- #2 PP assists - Sam Sedley (22)
- #5 points - Brayden Watts (60)
- #5 save percentage (.925) - players with 1100+ minutes
- #7 PP assists - Hank Crone (17)
- #7 Defensemen assists - Sam Sedley (35)
- #8 shots - Colton Hargrove (195)
- #8 Defensemen points - Sam Sedley (41)
Kinda scary what could be achieved next season with Marty having a season and a full offseason under his belt.
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