Eight on the Board, Work to Do, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Coaches Comments, All-Time Allen Hat Tricks. Allen Defense is Best in 5 Years, and Empty Net Goals

 

It is hard to find fault with an Allen Americans home game that produced the following results:

• Largest crowd of the season, 6275, on a Thursday morning!
• Clinched Kelly Cup playoff spot 
• 8 goals scored, highest of the season (tied).
• Improved average goals per game to 3.64, #1 in the ECHL.
• Scored on the 1st shot of the game, 34 seconds after puck drop. 
• Danny Katic hat trick, his 3rd of the season and Americans' record 9th of the season. 
• Brayden Watts scored 2 goals, including a shorty, giving him 100 for his career.

 

- With all of the greatness in an 8-5 win and qualifying for the playoffs, there was a lot to like, but it wasn't exactly a complete, playoff-caliber performance.

• After scoring first, Allen fell behind 3-1.
• After taking a 5-3 lead with two goals early in the third period, Allen gave up two goals, one of them on an ill-advised 5-on-3 power play. The game was tied 5-5 with five minutes remaining.
• The game was really a 6-5 game as Allen scored two empty net goals.
• Greensboro, without its captain and assistant captain (both traded), leading scorer (recalled), and with 16 rookies on the roster, gave Allen all it could handle. 

 

- The bottom line is Allen put up eight goals and got the win over Greensboro. Allen brought a cannon on offense, but defensively, it was more like a screen door in a storm. And as Coach Martinson reminded me in his post-game interview, making the playoffs isn't the finish line; it is the starting gate. There is no need to celebrate; making the playoffs is the invitation, not the celebration.  

 

- Goal scorers for Allen were Lukas Sillinger (1), Danny Katic (32,33,34), Brayden Watts (20,21), and Colton Hargrove (22,23). Michael Gildon had three assists, Ty Prefontaine, Harrison Blaisdell, and Watts had two. Here is a great highlight package that shows all of the goals and includes how the goals were set up. https://echl.com/videos/greensboro-gargoyles-vs-allen-americans-apr-2-2026  

 

- Here are the game recaps with the goal-by-goal details: 

• Allen Americans: "Americans Clinch Playoff Spot."  https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/04/americans-clinch-playoff-spot
• Greensboro Gargoyles: https://gargoyleshockey.com/news/2026/04/gagnon-kuzma-score-twice-in-8-5-loss-at-allen 

 

- Talking to the coaches after the game, the pregame meetings today will go over the defensive breakdowns on the 5 goals allowed (team defense), the over-passing, and the need to compete harder against a team that should not be tied with Allen late in the game. My message is be selfish, shoot the puck, don't get outshot (it was 32-28 last night).

 

- Here is an update on the keys to the game from yesterday. 

• Keep up the recent scoring. Allen has averaged seven goals per game over the last four games (8,7,6,7). 
• Score first. Allen is 25-2-3-0 (.883) when they score 1st, enough said.
• Get off to good starts. Allen's goal differential by period is -7 (1st), +34 (2nd), and +11 (3rd). 
• Win the special teams battle. Allen has the #1 home penalty kill percentage (88.6%), Greensboro has the #28 ranked road penalty kill percentage (73.3%) 
• Play with the lead. Allen is 25-0-2-0 when leading after the 2nd period.  

 

- The game tonight will go from one referee to two. The referee from yesterday was Grant Hendrich (#5). He will be joined by Ryan Siegel (#42) tonight. There will also be one different linesmen, Aaron Schacht (#51) joins Joey Kramer (#90) from last night.

 

- The lineup tonight will be almost the same as yesterday. It hasn't been officially reported anywhere, but if you haven't heard, Jackson Parsons was recalled by Belleville. Brett Mirwald will make his first pro start tonight. There are also changes on a couple of the lines. Here is the lineup tonight:

Forwards

11 Barbashyov - 7 Hargrove - 92 McAuley 

77 Sillinger - 91 Gildon - 9 Katic

26 Asuchak  - 18 Blaisdell - 29 Watts

19 Maxwell - 44 Jax Dubois - 14 Gursoy

 

Defense 

8 Prefontaine - 23 Sedley 

86 Anania - 22 Costantini

21 Decker - 2 Quinn Warmuth

 

Goalies

32 Mirwald 

33 Costantini (backup)

 

 

- Here is the game preview issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/04/game-day-preview-friday-night-on-ice-in-allen 

 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

-  Danny Katic's hat trick yesterday set the all-time record for hat tricks in a single season. Here is every hat trick since Allen joined the ECHL in 2014-15. The order is by most hat tricks: 

• 2025-26 (9)
• 3 - Danny Katic 
• 2 - Harrison Blaisdell 
• 1 - Hank Crone 
• 1 - Mark Duarte 
• 1 - Colton Hargrove 
• 1 - Brayden Watts

 

• 2022-23 (8)
• 3 - Hank Crone
• 2 - Liam Finlay
• 2 - Colton Hargrove
• 1 - Jakov Novak 

 

• 2021-22 (6)
• 2 - Branden Troock
• 1 - Chad Costello  
• 1 - Gavin Gould
• 1 - Luke Henman
• 1 - Josh Winquist

 

• 2016-17 (6)
• 3 - Bryan Moore 
• 2 - Greger Hanson
• 1 - Chad Costello

 

• **2014-15 (6)
• 2 - Jack Combs
• 1 - Chad Costello
• 1 - Conrad Abeltshauser*
• 1 - Kyle Follmer
• 1 - Greger Hanson

 

• 2018-19 (5)
• 1- Alex Breton*
• 1 - Jacob Doty
• 1 - Zach Pochiro
• 1 - Braylon Schmyr
• 1 - Gary Steffes

 

• 2024-25 (3)
• 1 - Spencer Asuchak
• 1 - Easton Brodzinski
• 1 - Brayden Watts

 

• 2019-20 (3)
• 1 - Gabe Gagne
• 1 - Alex Guptill
• 1 -Jordan Topping 

 

• 2017-18 (3)
• 1 - Vincent Arseneau
• 1 - Alex Guptill
• 1 - Gary Steffes

 

• **2015-16 (3)
• 1 - Dyson Stevenson
• 1 - Chad Costello
• 1 - Chris Crane

 

• 2020-21 (2)
• 1 - Les Lancaster*
• 1 - Jesse Mychan  

 *Defensemen 

**Kelly Cup Championship years

 

- I get lots of feedback every day on how the Allen Americans are performing from comments on the blog and social media, to text messages, emails, and chatting with fans at the game. Recently, there have been lots of comments about the defense. Being a stats guy, I decided to look at the offense and defense and compare this season to the last five seasons and the two Kelly Cup championship seasons. The stats say this season is the best in the last five seasons and is on par with the 2016 championship team. Here is Allen's ECHL rank on offense (1st number) and defense (2nd number) based on average goals scored and allowed per game:

• 2025-26: #1 - #16
• 2024-25: #29 - #29
• 2023-24: #12 - #26
• 2022-23: #8 - #23
• 2021-22: #9 - #20
• 2015-16: #10 - #13
• 2014-15: #1 - #7 

 

- It is a big night in the ECHL with 28 of the 30 teams in action, and there are still six playoff teams to be determined. Lots of teams are still fighting for those six playoff spots, plus other teams are trying to get home ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs. Bottom line is there are a lot of meaningful games on the schedule tonight. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2026/04/echl-today-april-3  

 

- Danny Katic's hat trick vaulted him into the ECHL lead in goals with 34. Here are the players with 30 or more goals with games remaining. The way Katic has been scoring, 12 goals in his last 12 games, he could hit 40 goals and is the clear favorite to lead the league in goals. 

• 34 goals - Danny Katic (8 games remaining)
• 32 goals - Brendan Hoffmann, Idaho (has been loaned to the AHL since February 10)
• 31 goals - Reed Lebster, Utah (6 games remaining)
• 30 goals - Brandon Hawkins, Toledo (7 games remaining)  

 

- The Kansas City Mavericks can clinch the regular season championship (Brabham Cup) tonight if they beat Idaho on the road and Florida loses at Jacksonville. The big question is whether the Mavericks can survive the curse of the Brabham Cup. The regular season champion hasn't won the Kelly Cup since 2014. The Brabham Cup has been less of a trophy and more like a warning label the last 12 years: "contents may not survive the playoffs."    

 

- Seven players had multi-point games last night and kept their hot hand going:

• Harrison Blaisdell has a 5-game point streak, 10 points (6G, 4A)
• Michael Gildon has a 5-game point streak, 12 points (4G, 8A).
• Brayden Watts has 9 points (2G, 8A) in the last 6 games.
• Danny Katic has averaged a goal per game over the last 12 games and has a six-game assist streak.
• Colton Hargrove has a 4-game goal streak (5G, 2A).
• Ty Prefontaine hasn't had a negative plus/minus game in a month. He leads the team at +20.
• Colby McAuley has a four-game points streak, 8 points (4G, 4A).

 

DID YOU KNOW: Empty net goals for each ECHL team range from 3 to 17:

 

17: *KC*

16: ALN

14: IDH, SC, *WHL*

13: RC

12: ADK, *FLA*, MNE, REA, SAV, *TOL*

11: GVL, TUL

10: ATL, BLM, NOR, UTA

9: FW, GSO, TR

8: JAX

7: WIC

6: IND, ORL, TAH, WOR

5: IA, KAL

3: CIN

 

*Division point leaders