Allen Swept, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Power Play Struggles, Month by Month Record, Player Streaks and More

The Allen Americans lost to the Jacksonville Icemen 3-1 last night before the second largest crowd of the season (6264) on Celebrate Texas Night. Wearing the Texas Jersey which has a record of .700 since its inception was no match for the curse of a Saturday night huge crowd, live auction which has a record just around .200 the last two seasons. 

- The only thing I can think of about finding positives from this series, it is like putting lipstick on a pig. As I talked to fans between periods of all three games I heard comments like we are hanging in there, we are outshooting them, we are keeping it close, we had bad puck luck, bad calls by the referees and we outplayed them that period. To be clear there are a couple of stats that are positive. Allen outshot Jacksonville 104-103 in the series. That never happens. Allen had more power play opportunities (14) than Jacksonville (11) and that rarely happens. Don't be fooled by the lipstick, this series was a pig. Here are the facts on the worst three game series of the season:

• Allen was outscored 16-2.
• Allen gave up the first goal in all three games.
• Allen scored no goals in the first period. 
• Allen gave up more goals as the game progressed.
• Allen was outscored 2-0 in the first period.
• Allen was outscored 5-1 in the second period.
• Allen was outscored 8-1 in the third period.
• Allen had 14 power play opportunities and never scored a goal. 
• Other than a 0-0 tie after the first period of game one, Allen trailed after every period in the series.

 - After the drubbing Allen took from Jacksonville it is timely the team has a week off  before the Americans play again. Allen plays just one game next week and that is a Sunday afternoon game (2:10 pm) against Utah. The Grizzlies are the other Mountain Division team with a point percentage under .400 (395). It may not sound exciting to have a game between the worst team in the league and the third worst team in the league, but it will be a great opportunity for Allen to get a home win against a team the Americans have a winning record against this season (3-1-1-0).

- Allen also needs some healing time and a week off will help not only the injured players but those that are banged up. The Jacksonville series took its toll with Dylan Wells, Mark Duarte and Nick Isaacson going down with injuries. You add in the players on 14-day injured reserve (Asuchak, Johnson, Gavin, Chambers) and the roster is very depleted. Unfortunately, several of these players will not return this season.

- Here are the game recaps from both teams plus the video highlights:

Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/03/game-recap-jacksonville-completes-the-sweep  

Jacksonville Icemen: https://jacksonvilleicemen.com/news/2025/03/nadeau-extends-goal-streak-to-six-as-jacksonville-sweeps-allen 

Video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/jacksonville-icemen-vs-allen-americans-mar-8-2025

OTHER COMMENTS

- Jacksonville's sweep in Allen gives them 80 points which is still third in the South Division, but is also tied for third in points in the ECHL. The Icemen's 13 game points streak (10-0-3-0) is the longest in the ECHL right now. The sweep helped two Jacksonville players extend their current longest streaks in the league. Olivier Nadeau has scored a goal in six straight games (8 goals) and Bennett MacArthur has scored a point in nine straight games (11 points).

- Allen's power play has not scored a goal in the last seven games. The Americans last scored a power play goal on February 21 in Kansas City. Since that game Allen has not converted on 25 straight power play opportunities including several 5-on-3 chances. The Americans are now ranked #25 on the power play at 16.7%.

That is a far cry from what I wrote about the power play at the beginning of December:

- Allen's power play has been the difference maker the last two weeks. The Americans have scored at least one power play goal in six of the last seven games and the three last night is the most all season. In the last seven games the Allen power play is 9-21 (42.9%). The power play has been steadily going up the ECHL chart. It is now ranked #3 in the league at 26.1%. 

-  Allen is ranked #29 in average goals allowed (4.14) and #29 in average shots allowed (38.14). The last time the same team finished last in both categories was Indy in 2016-17. The Americans goal differential crossed 100 last night. The Americans have scored 139 goals and have allowed 240 goals for a -101 goal differential, by far the worst in the ECHL. 

- Former Allen forward Grant Hebert (2022-2024) recently returned to the ECHL after starting the season in England. He is now playing for the Norfolk Admirals and scored the first goal of the game last night in a 3-2 win over league leading Florida. In eight games since returning from overseas, Grant has seven points (3G, 4A).

- Rapid City lost in Tahoe last night 7-1 and their playoff hopes are now all but over. Tahoe snapped Rapid City's 13 game point streak with a 5-4 win on Thursday. The teams play again this afternoon. The Rush now find themselves 12 points out of a playoff spot and must pass Idaho and Wichita to make the playoffs.

- Idaho beat Kansas City twice this week on the road (5-0 & 6-2) to tie Wichita for fourth place in the division. Last night the Mavericks turned the tables, blowing out the Steelheads 7-3. 

- Here are the Mountain Division standings including games remaining:

• 79 points - Kansas City (15)
• 72 points - Tahoe (14)
• 72 points - Tulsa (15)
• 67 points - Wichita (15)
• 67 points - Idaho (15)
• 55 points - Rapid City (16)
• 45 points - Utah (15)
• 38 points - Allen (14)

- Here is Allen's record this season by month:

• 0-3-1-0 (.125) - October
• 7-3-2-0 (..667) - November
• 1-10-2-0 (.115) - December
• 4-5-2-1 (.417) - January
• 1-9-1-1 (.167) - February 

- You may have heard I am working on an in depth story about Mark Duarte. I am planning on posting that story on Monday. It will be the only blog post next week as I will be out of town. If I do my job right, you will be even more impressed with this young man.

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about player streaks. Here are Allen's longest streaks this season:

• Goals - 4 games, Spencer Asuchak, Mark Duarte
• Assists - 5 games, Patrick Polino, Kyle Ctnkovic
• Points -  7 games, Brayden Watts