Cincinnati, OH- The Cyclones opened the 2023-2024 regular season with a 4-1 loss against the Wheeling Nailers. The Cincinnati Cyclones celebrated the “First Face-Off” at Heritage Bank Center in style, with over 6,600 fans in attendance.
During Saturday night’s game, the fans saw the Cincinnati Cyclones raise their 2022-2023 Central Division Championship banner prior to puck drop against the division rival Wheeling Nailers. The Wheeling Nailers captured the lead less than three minutes into the game with a goal from David Jankowski on the powerplay. The Cincinnati Cyclones rookie forward Adam Berg electrified the Cincinnati crowd minutes later, cleaning up a rebound off a James Hardie shot. Cédric Desruisseaux broke the tie later in the first period to give Wheeling a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.
Wheeling’s Desruisseaux went on to score his second marker with a snipe on the powerplay, beating Olof Lindbom with 6:29 remaining in the middle frame. The Nailers continued their strong play into the third with Lukas Svejkovsky’s man-advantage goal. Goaltender Olof Lindbom saved 19 shots out of 23 attempts and allowing four goals during the game. Goaltender Taylor Gauthier turned away all remaining Cyclones’ attempts, finishing with 30 saves in the victory.
Next up, the Cincinnati Cyclones hit the road for the first three in three of the season. Cincinnati travels to play Wichita next Friday, the 27th then heads south for games against Tulsa on Saturday, the 28th, and Sunday, the 29th. The Cincinnati Cyclones return home to Heritage Bank Center on Friday, November 3rd, at 7:30 pm ET for “Shutout the Hate” night. Cincinnati will sport specialty jerseys that will be auctioned off after the game.
