The Cincinnati Cyclones are set to face off against the Indy Fuel at the Fisher’s Event Center for the first time in team history this Saturday night, with puck drop at 7:00 PM EST. It’s hard to believe we’re already halfway through the season, but this game has major Central Division playoff implications this early on. The Cyclones are currently trailing the Fuel and the Bison by five points (or 2.5 games), but they have a decent amount of time to catch up. With four more matchups against the Fuel and two against the Bison still to play, every point is important moving forward. It’s a tough road ahead for Cincinnati as they’ll be battling the top teams like the Fort Wayne Komets and Toledo Walleye a lot down the stretch, instead of the bottom teams, thanks to some unlucky scheduling. No matter how you look at it though, Cincinnati controls their own destiny now that they firmly placed themselves back into the playoff race 37 games in.
The Cyclones enjoyed a convincing victory last night over the Maine Mariners, winning 6-1, with Chas Sharpe and Tristan Ashbrook each scoring two goals. The Cyclones’ defense was impressive, holding the Mariners to just 10 shots throughout the night, marking their best defensive performance of the season. On the other hand, the Fuel also won connivingly last night, shutting out the Kalamazoo Wings 4-0, with Kevin Lombardi scoring two goals, and a shutout by goaltender Ben Gaudreau.
Fuel’s Lockdown Defense
The Indy Fuel runs a killer 1-2-2 defensive structure, one that has led to seven shutouts so far this season, which leads the ECHL. The Fuel love to control the defensive blue line and stump attacks early by crashing the puck, unleashing an overall smothering attack in their own end. It will be key to get pucks in deep and jump out on odd-man rushes quickly when available versus arguably the best defensive team in the ECHL, who has only given up 79 goals this season (2nd in ECHL). Also, Indy’s PK is amongst the best in ECHL, with an 89.4% success rate, allowing only 12 power play goals this season.
It will be key for the Cyclones to start the game quickly and physically, laying checks whenever possible against a physical team like Indy. Also, firing a high volume of shots on net (something they have done well lately), will be important for creating deflections, rebounds, and opportunities to screen the goaltender. Scoring gritty goals like these can help propel this team upward in the standings, and especially against Indy’s goaltender, Ben Gaudreau, if he gets the nod later.
Penalties Will Haunt
One area of concern for the Cyclones is the number of penalties they take. While their penalty kill has been solid recently (77.2% on the season), blocking shots and clearing pucks, they cannot rely on this forever, especially with the Toledo Walleye coming to town on Monday for a matinee game, whose power play is currently clicking at 25%. Maintaining discipline will be huge moving forward. However, with a younger team, this happens, as many of these guys first-year pros, but I am confident it will be cleaned up going forward.
Indy is around league average on the power play, converting at 19% and scoring 20 power play goals. In comparison, the Cyclones have netted 23 power play goals, and I think they’ve got a bit of an edge with the talented young players they’ve got.
Players to Watch (Indy):
Kevin Lombardi, F:
Kevin Lombardi is on a three-game goal streak, scoring four goals over that stretch. Through 35 games played, Lombardi has scored 11 goals and nine assists, posting a -1 plus/minus.
Ben Gaudreau, G:
Ben Gaudreau has been Indy’s #1 goalie all season long. Through 22 starts, he has a 9-9-2 record, allowing 2.15 goals per game, with a 0.912 save %. He also has three shutouts on the season so far.
Players to Watch (Cincy):
Tristan Ashbrook, F:
Tristan Ashbrook has scored four goals in his last four games after heading back down from the Iowa Wild of the AHL. Through 22 ECHL games played, he has scored nine goals and six assists, posting a -4 plus/minus.
Pavel Cajan, G:
Pavel Cajan has been the clear #1 goalie for the Cyclones so far this season, making huge saves in key moments as of late. Through 16 games played, he has a 7-8-1 record, allowing 2.13 goals per game, with a 0.910 save %.
Indy Fuel Projected Lines:
Wideman – Lemos – Bilek
Burke – Hausinger – Lombardi
Provost – Martin – Manderville
Llewellyn – Stockdale
Brenton – Cameron
Grima – Orgel
Farmer – Farrel
McGee
Gaudreau
Vrbetic
Cincinnati Cyclones Projected Lines:
Voit – Kressler – Frasca
Griffin – Ashbrook – Sheriff
Dodero – Gosselin – Sikic
Vaive – Parker – Tisdale
Burnside – Sharpe
Bengtsson – McCleary
Vilio – MacLean
Cajan
(Unknown)
(Lineups above are subject to change)
ITR 34: End Of The Road – Inside The Rink
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