Two Explosive Offenses, One Lonely Goal, Allen in a Deep Hole as the Americans Return Home - The Details

 

The Allen Americans dug themselves an even deeper hole with a 1-0 shutout loss in Kansas City yesterday. Was it great defense, Allen gave up one goal, or poor offense, Allen was shutout? My assessment is that it was a combination of the two, along with three goal/no goal reviews, all going against the Americans. I won't dwell on the referees' involvement in the outcome of the game, but based on all of the messages and videos I received from fans during and after the game, it was clear to them. The Allen goal disallowed for goalie interference, the Mavericks' goal not called goalie interference, and the Allen goal ruling the puck did not cross the goal line were all wrong. Thanks to the great overhead replays provided by Kansas City, while the referees took a long time to review the video, everyone else seemed to have a conclusion on the right call long before the officials. On one of the reviews, they brought in both linesmen (one at a time) before ruling against Allen. The crease became hockey's version of a crime scene investigation, and Allen fans learned over and over again that seeing the puck in the net and having a goal are apparently two different things. The only thing under heavier pressure than the goalies was the video review system.  Let's move on!

 

- It was a game of inches, whistles, and one power-play goal in Kansas City yesterday. For the second straight game, two teams noted for lighting up the scoreboard found themselves trapped in a playoff defensive chess match. The 0-0 deadlock lasted until midway through the third period before Kansas City finally broke through with a power-play goal. One goal was all the Mavericks needed to send the Americans to a frustrating 1-0 loss and a 2-0 series deficit. 

 

- Here is what the stats say:

• Allen gave up the first goal for the fifth straight game. That is a death wish against Kansas City. The Mavericks were 40-2-2-0 (.932) when scoring first during the regular season and are a perfect 5-0-0 in the playoffs.
• The only goal was scored on the power play. Kansas City was 1-4 on the power play, and Allen was 0-3. Special teams were the difference in both games. The power play percentages after the two games in Kansas City are 0% for the Americans and 25% for the Mavericks.
• Allen's defense was outstanding in Kansas City. Giving up three goals in two games should be automatic wins for the best offense in the ECHL. Scoring a total of one goal in back-to-back games is the fewest all season. Props to Kansas City, which had the #2 defense in the ECHL during the regular season, allowing 2.21 goals per game and the #1 playoff defense, allowing 1.00 goals per game. With that said, the expectations from the Allen offense are much higher than what it has produced thus far. 
• Jackson Parsons took both the losses in Kansas City despite being Allen's best player both nights. He gave up three goals in two games. Two of the goals were power-play goals, and on one of them, he was interfered with. Parsons' save percentages in the two losses were .933 and .962. 

 

- The good news for Americans is the series finally shifts to Allen, where energy, matchups, and a loud crowd can quickly change momentum in a playoff series that has been razor-thin through two games. Despite being down 2-0 and the odds heavily stacked against them (see DID YOU KNOW below), the Americans can point to how close the games have been. One bounce, one reviewed goal, or one special-teams break could have completely flipped this series. The Americans return home knowing game three will decide whether this becomes a long series or a long summer. 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- There have been 49 playoff games played thus far, and nine of them have been shutouts. It just shows how tight playoff hockey becomes when 18.4% of games result in a shutout. During the regular season, there were 1080 games, and 125 shutouts. That is a shutout percentage of 8.6%, less than half the rate in the playoffs.  

 

- Despite the Americans being shutout last night, Danny Katic still leads the playoffs in goals (6) and is #2 in points (11). He has one of the two hat tricks so far. The other was by Anthony Romano (Florida).

 

- There is only one game on the schedule tonight. Wheeling is in Maine for game three of their series. Wheeling leads 2-0. Here is the ECHL Today with the preview as well as the schedule for all of the other series: https://echl.com/news/2026/05/echl-today-may-11 

 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: The four #1 seeds in the Kelly Cup playoffs have a combined record of 23-1-1 and could all advance to the Conference Finals. They are unbeaten in the Division Finals (7-0).

Here are the current playoff records of the #1 seeds. The odds of the 2-0 teams winning the Division Finals series is 88%. The odds for the 1-0 team is 75%.

 

Division Finals

2-0-0: Florida

2-0-0: Kansas City

2-0-0: Wheeling

1-0-0: Fort Wayne

 

Overall Playoff Record

6-0-0: Florida

6-0-0: Kansas City

6-0-1: Wheeling

5-1-0: Fort Wayne

 

 

Despite the odds heavily favoring all four #1 seeds making the final four, ECHL history says they won’t. Going back 15 years, all four #1 seeds have never made the final four. Here is how many of the #1 seeds made it recently:

 

3 - 2025 (South Carolina missed)

3 - 2024 (Greenville missed)

2 - 2023 (South Carolina & Cincinnati missed)

3 - 2022 (Reading missed)

 

Which #1 seed won’t advance in 2026, or will they defy the odds and all four make the Conference Finals?