The Cincinnati Cyclones hosted the Bloomington Bison early on Saturday evening, where it was Star Wars night at the Heritage Bank Center. The Cyclones came in off a win the night before at home vs the Iowa Heartlanders, winning 3-1 in a sloppy game where 12 minor penalties were called (six for each team).
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However, the Bison got an unexpected night off on Friday, after their home game against the Indy Fuel was postponed due to issues with the ice, raising eyebrows around the ECHL about how that could possibly happen. Either way, this was a huge matchup in the Central Division playoff race, with the Cyclones closing in on the Bison and Fuel just past the season’s halfway point.
Jon Gillies took to the net for Cincinnati in his first start since December 29th, where the team pulled off a thrilling 6-5 overtime road victory against the Walleye. Throughout his career, Gillies has played in 35 NHL games, boasting a 3.50 goals-against average and a save percentage of 0.891. He had stints with the New Jersey Devils, Columbus Blue Jackets, St. Louis Blues, and Calgary Flames during his short NHL career.
This was Pavel Cajan’s first game off after starting eight consecutive games, while Yaniv Perets took to the crease for the Bison, while #1 goaltender Mark Sinclair is up in the AHL with the Belleville Senators.
First Period
With 10:33 left in the first period, Maxim Barbashev of Bloomington was caught tripping at mid-ice, sending the 17th-ranked Cyclones power play to the man-advantage. Bloomington’s 15th-ranked penalty kill was too strong for the stagnant Cyclones power play, easily killing off the two-minute minor. With 1:19 left in the first, Kyle Bollers was caught high-sticking, sending the 18th-ranked Bison power play to the ice, with 41 seconds of five-on-four carrying over into the second period. Shots favored Cincinnati 10-5 after twenty minutes of play.
Second Period
With 8:15 left in the middle frame, someone finally got on the scoresheet. Former Cyclone Patrick Bajkov backhanded a rebound past Gillies from the slot, giving the Bison a 1-0 lead just over halfway through regulation.
Carter Berger later extended the Bloomington lead to 2-0 as he sniped the puck over Gillies’s right shoulder on the Bison’s 13th shot of the game.
After falling behind 2-0, the Cyclones applied pressure in the Bloomington defensive zone, which eventually led to an interference penalty on Ryan Siedem of Bloomington. However, Cincinnati was still unable to get one past Perets. The period ended 2-0 in favor of Bloomington.
Third Period
Cincinnati continued to pound shots at Bloomington goaltender Yaniv Perets down the stretch but could not beat him, no matter what they threw at him. With two minutes left, Head Coach Jason Payne pulled Jon Gillies for the extra attacker in a desperate attempt to climb back from a 2-0 deficit, but it was to no avail.
Despite outshooting the Bloomington Bison 29 to 26, the Cyclones lost 3-0, bringing their record to 15-21-5-0. The Bison, on the other hand, improved to 18-17-1-2, moving back above the .500 mark. Goaltender Jon Gillies fought hard against the Bison, but there were a couple of goals he’d probably like to have back. Carter Berger led the herd for Bloomington, scoring a goal and adding an assist, while goaltender Yaniv Perets earned a well-deserved shutout with 29 saves.
Offensively, Bloomington had the better looks in front of the net than Cincinnati, in a game where grade-a chances were hard to come by. It was a heavily fought tight checking game throughout, both teams playing very tight at their defensive blue line. Though, the Cyclones did give up in this one, but boy, this is game they would love to have back given the importance it had in the Central Division playoff race.
Looking ahead, the Cyclones will host the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on Wednesday at 7:35 PM EST, while the Bison will hit the road north to Kalamazoo for a 3:00 PM EST matchup Sunday vs the Wings.
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