On Friday night, the Cincinnati Cyclones faced off against the Iowa Heartlanders in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, where fans celebrated Hawaiian Night at Heritage Bank Center. The Cyclones were coming off a huge 2-1 victory against the division-leading Toledo Walleye on Monday. Marko Sikic shone with two goals, and goaltender Pavel Cajan made an impressive 23 saves, securing a much-needed win.
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Entering the game, the Cyclones were sitting sixth in the Central Division, trailing the Indy Fuel and Bloomington Bison by four points. On the other hand, Iowa came in strong at second place with a record of 21-11-4 and 48 points, while Cincinnati sat at 33 points.
A key roster movement for the Cyclones was the addition of Noah Kane on the first line at LW, joining Kressler at C and Voit at RW. This matchup marked Kane’s first game back this season after he recently returned from his stint with JoKP of the Mestis League in Finland.
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Starting in goal for Cincinnati was Pavel Cajan, while Kyle McClellan took to the crease for Iowa.
First Period:
Keenan Stewart of Iowa found the net on the game’s first shot, scoring his second goal of the season against his former team, giving Iowa an early 1-0 lead.
Around six minutes later, Gavin Hain of Iowa was caught slashing around mid-ice, sending the Cyclones to the power play, but the Cyclones were not able to get set up at all as the Heartlanders killed it off. With exactly seven minutes to go, Marko Sikic of Cincinnati zipped a pass to defenseman Ryan McCleary who later beat McClellan up high on the backhand, evening the game at 1-1.
Gavin Hain of Iowa later went back to the box with 1:22 to go, this time caught for elbowing deep in his o-zone, sending the Cyclones to their second power play of the game. Thirty-eight seconds of power play would later carry over to the second period, as the first ended at a 1-1 tie game, with Cincinnati leading the shot total nine to six.
Second Period:
The 38 seconds of power play time later expired, but Dante Sheriff was later caught slashing as Matthew Sop attempted a wraparound attempt on Cajan, sending Iowa to their first power play. The Cyclones PK units later killed off the penalty, bringing the momentum back their way, continuing to fire a barrage of shots at Iowa goaltender Kyle McClellan. With 13:04 left in the middle frame, Matthew Sop was given a two-minute minor for holding-the-stick, sending the Cyclones to their third power play of the night, but were once again unsuccessful in beating McClellan.
The penalties kept coming, and this time it was Marko Sikic from Cincinnati who got called for cross-checking with 8:26 remaining in the second period. Right after the Cyclones successfully killed off the penalty, Kyle Bollers found himself on a breakaway. However, Iowa’s Jules Boscq came in behind and held Bollers just before he could get a shot off, handing the Cyclones another power play opportunity. They took full advantage of it when Cincinnati’s leading scorer, Chas Sharpe, unleashed a slap shot that went bar down. Sharpe’s goal put Cincinnati ahead for the first time of the night, making it 2-1.
In the final minutes of the second, more penalties came for the Cyclones, two coming in the matter of 17 seconds, one on Chris Dodero for tripping and another on Josh Burnside for roughing, sending Iowa to a five-on-three power play, but Cincinnati was able to kill most of it off, with four seconds of five on three carrying over into the third.
Third Period:
Right after the Cyclones two penalties expired, Zach Dubinsky was caught tripping at his defensive blue line, sending the Cyclones to their fifth power play of the night, later negated by a Noah Kane interference penalty. With 9:14 left in the third, Dakota Raabe of Iowa was caught hooking, the Heartlanders sixth penalty of the night, later negated by an absolutely ridiculous holding penalty called on Braeden Kressler, the 12th penalty of the night. With a little over two minutes left in regulation, Iowa pulled their goaltender Kyle McClellan in search of the equalizer, nearly tying the game as Chas Sharpe saved the puck on the goal line with 1:49 left. Braeden Kressler later iced the game firing the puck into the empty net, extending the lead to 3-1, later winning at that score.
Friday night’s game was quite a spectacle, and not in the best way. After 60 minutes of play, we saw a total of 12 minor penalties called, making it feel like a ref show in Cincinnati. Some of those calls, especially the roughing penalty against Burnside and the holding on Kressler, seemed overly ticky-tacky.
On the bright side, the Cyclones’ penalty kill was phenomenal, managing to shut down all six of Iowa’s power plays. They were amazing at blocking shots and clearing the puck, and Pavel Cajan made some impressive saves to keep his team ahead.
Overall, both sides played sloppy, with many undisciplined penalties disrupting the flow. Still, the Cyclones pulled out a solid 3-1 win, which was a big deal as they are chasing down Bloomington and Indy. Their record now stands at 15-20-5, and they have 35 points in the standings.
The Cyclones will now host the Bloomington Bison on Saturday at 4:00 PM EST for Star Wars night.
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