On Saturday night, the Cincinnati Cyclones (0-1-1) kicked off their home opener against the Indy Fuel (0-3-0) at Heritage Bank Center. Coming off a close 5-4 defeat in Fort Wayne the night before, the Cyclones were eager to bounce back, especially after letting the game slip away in the third period. Even with that loss, Justin Vaive still became the all-time leading goal scorer in Cyclones history, scoring his 114th goal Meanwhile, the Fuel were looking to turn things around after suffering a 3-0 shutout loss on the road to the Atlanta Gladiators last Sunday. In goal for the Cyclones was Pavel Cajan, making his first start of the season, while the visiting Fuel turned to Peyton Jones between the pipes.
Beginning the first period in a packed-out Heritage Bank Center, the two teams saw little offensive zone time. Exactly two minutes into the period, Dante Sherrif took a high-sticking penalty, giving the Fuel an early power-play, where the Cyclones PK unit prevailed, icing the puck multiple times. After the power play, both teams struggled to get pucks in deep in a tight-checking affair. Fuel D-man later took a two-minute interference penalty as Justin Vaive drove into the o-zone, giving the Cyclones their first home power-play of the season. The Fuel PK unit killed off the minor penalty with around ten minutes left in the period, and then Matt Murphy was given a questionable interference penalty, placing the Fuel back on the power play. Cyclones goaltender Pavel Cajan made an incredible sprawling stick save, preserving the 0-0 deadlock as the power play came to a close. The penalties kept piling up; Matthew Boudens was called for high sticking, but the Cyclones’ penalty kill held firm once again.
The Indy Fuel came out strong in the second period, dominating the offensive zone for the first three minutes. Tensions began to rise as the game took on a chippy vibe, including a massive hit at the blue line from the Fuel. This led to a breakaway opportunity, but goaltender Pavel Cajan made a crucial save, keeping the score locked at 0-0. With about six minutes left in the period, the Cyclones narrowly missed the net on two occasions, maintaining the stalemate. Indy goaltender Peyton Jones remained stellar, making a series of key saves as the period concluded still at 0-0.
As the third period began, the Cyclones faced a frustrating stat line with only seven shots on goal compared to the Fuel’s 20. The initial five minutes of the period mirrored the prior uneventful gameplay, characterized by intense, tight checking. Seven minutes in, Cyclones goalie Pavel Cajan made an impressive save, deftly swatting away a deflected puck that threatened to slip past his shoulder. With nine minutes remaining in regulation, the Cyclones received a power play opportunity when Cam Hausinger’s broken stick led to a holding penalty. However, just fourteen seconds later, Nikola Knyzhov was penalized for cross-checking, resulting in a brief 4-on-4 situation and nullifying the power play advantage. As the game entered its final three minutes, the Cyclones nearly took the lead with a close-range shot, but goalie Peyton Jones came through with his twelfth save of the evening, keeping the score at 0-0. Moments later, Ty Farmer was assessed a delay of game penalty for sending the puck over the boards, giving the Cyclones another chance on the power play. Unfortunately, they were unable to capitalize, and the game headed to overtime still tied at zero.
Sudden death overtime began with a bang, as defenseman Nick Grima finally beat Pavel Cajan, giving the Fuel the second point in the standings with a 1-0 OT win.
Pavel Cajan was the main reason the Cyclones remained in the game, stopping 29out of 30 shots, while the Cyclones only had 14 of their own, which was not ideal. Overall, the Cyclones lacked urgency and speed all night, and for some reason did not shoot the puck much. The Cyclones are still winless on the season and now head to Kalamazoo to face the Wings Sunday, at a 0-1-1 record. The Fuel are now 1-3-0 and will face Kalamazoo next Friday on the road.
