Late Goal Leads to Defeat, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Martinson Comments, Today's Preview, AHL Affiliates in Playoffs and More

 

 Two of the ECHL's most dangerous offenses spent most of the night locked in a tense defensive struggle, but in the end, the Allen Americans came away on the wrong side of a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to the Kansas City Mavericks in game one of the Mountain Division Finals last night.

 

- Despite the firepower on both benches, neither team could solve the opposing goaltender in a scoreless first period. The turning point came after the horn sounded to end the opening frame. Allen was given a roughing penalty, which gave the Mavericks a power play to begin the second period. The Mavericks capitalized at the 1:31 mark. It was the only goal of the second period. Not a good sign for Allen, trailing 1-0 after the second period. Kansas City's record (regular season and playoffs) when leading after the second period is 24-1-0-0.

 

- The Americans battled back and finally broke through at 4:15 of the third period on Danny Katic's league-leading sixth goal and 11th point of the playoffs to tie the score 1-1. It was a typical Katic goal right at the net on a wrap-around. Allen generated chances late in the period, but Kansas City delivered the final blow with 78 seconds remaining, turning a tense playoff atmosphere into a celebration for the home crowd. 

 

- Allen had one last desperate chance with an offensive zone faceoff with .5 seconds remaining, which turned into a post-game melee of pushing and shoving. When order was finally restored, officials handed out 11 misconduct penalties, six to Allen and five to Kansas City, adding even more intensity to a series that already feels heated. With emotions clearly carrying over, Game two this afternoon at 4:05 pm should have plenty of edge from the opening puck drop.   

 

- Here are the video highlights, which show the goals and the many great saves by both goalies, plus the game recap from the Allen Americans:

• Video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-kansas-city-mavericks-may-9-2026-game-1 
• Allen Americans recap: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/05/game-recap-americans-fall-short-in-2-1-loss-in-game-1

 

- I had a chance to check in with Coach Martinson early this morning as he was putting together video clips to use in the pregame meetings today. Here is what he had to say:

"The difference in the game was they had four power plays to our one. 

"We had an even strength puck possession advantage in every period, and it was the biggest in the third period."

 "We were the more physical team, and that will have an effect over the course of the series." 

 

- It will get really difficult to win this series if the Americans lose this afternoon and fall behind 2-0. Here are some keys to the game:

• Allen has given up the first goal in its last four games. The Americans can't afford to do that against the Mavericks. 
• Allen lost the special teams battle last night, giving up a power play goal (1-4) while going 0-1 on the power play. The Americans took five minor penalties in the game, two of which were for after-the-whistle roughing penalties, including one that led to the Mavericks' power play goal. After the whistle scrums have hurt the Americans in the playoffs. You never know how the referees will hand out penalties after these scrums, so play physical between the whistles, not after the whistle.
• Allen had plenty of great scoring chances, but could not finish. They need more time and space to get the puck in the net, with net front presence. 
• Kansas City has alternated goalies in the playoffs, so look for former Allen goalie Dylan Wells to get the start this afternoon if the alternating continues. Wells has a better GAA, (0.90 vs 1.34) and save percentage (.962 vs .938), than the goalie that played last night.   
• The 4th line (Asuchak, Dubois, Barbashev) created havoc with their physicality and spent a lot of time in the offensive zone. The 3rd line (Blasidell, Kidney, Hookey) created a lot of opportunities. For Allen to be successful, these lines need to turn all of the hard work into some goals. 
• Parsons was great in goal last night. I assume he will start in goal again this afternoon. Allen will need another performance today like last night.

 

- Here is the lineup for this afternoon. It is the same as last night, but as usual with Coach Martinson, don't be surprised if he makes some adjustments during the game: 

Forwards

92 McAuley - 7 Hargrove - 27 Duarte

29 Watts - 91 Gildon - 9 Katic

18 Blaisdell - 76 Kidney - 55 Hookey

26 Asuchak - 44 Dubois - 11 Barbashev

 

Defense

8 Prefontaine - 23 Sedley

86 Anania - 40 Toure

21 Decker - 22 Costantini

 

Goalies

31 Parsons

33 Costantini (backup)

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- The #1 seeds continued their playoff dominance last night, winning three more games. The four #1 seeds now have a combined playoff record of 21-1-1. Here is the breakdown:

• 6-0-0 - Florida
• 5-0-0 - Kansas City
• 6-0-1 - Wheeling
• 4-1-0 - Fort Wayne

 

- The Americans did get a break last night. Coachella Valley beat Ontario 3-2 in double overtime to upset the #1 seed in the best-of-five series. They now advance to the Pacific Division finals against Colorado. That best-of-five series will start on Wednesday (13th) with games on the 15th, 17th, 20th, and 22nd. The bottom line is that the Kansas City playoff-eligible players in Coachella Valley may not return during the series with Allen.

 

- There are two games on the schedule today. In addition to Allen at Kansas City, Toledo is at Fort Wayne for game one of the Central Division finals. Here is the ECHL Today with the previews: https://echl.com/news/2026/05/echl-today-may-10  

 

-  Here are the eight teams remaining in the Kelly Cup playoffs, showing which NHL and AHL affiliates are still involved in the playoffs:

• Allen - none
• Florida - AHL (Springfield)
• Fort Wayne - none
• Kansas City - AHL (Coachella Valley)
• Maine - none
• South Carolina - none
• Toledo - AHL (Grand Rapids)
• Wheeling - AHL (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) 

  

DID YOU KNOW: The 2026 Kelly Cup playoffs are down to eight teams. Here is the last year that each team made the final four (Conference Finals) of a 16-team playoff:

 

2025 - Florida (lost in conference finals)

2025 - Kansas City (lost in conference finals)

2025 - Toledo (lost in championship finals)

2018 - Fort Wayne (lost in conference finals)

2017 - South Carolina (lost in championship finals)

2016 - Allen (won Kelly Cup)

2016 - Wheeling (lost in championship finals)

Never - Maine

 

This excludes 2021, when only 14 teams played in the regular season, eight made the playoffs, there were only three rounds to the championship, the first round was called the conference semifinals, and the playoffs were all best-of-five series.