ECHL Game Recap: Iowa Heartlanders vs Cincinnati Cyclones l 12/17/2024

The Cincinnati Cyclones, with a record of 3-15-3 (9 points), hosted the Iowa Heartlanders on Tuesday, December 17, at Heritage Bank Center. The Cyclones were looking to end a four-game losing streak after being swept by the Norfolk Admirals in Virginia over the past weekend in a three-game series. However, the Heartlanders are enjoying a strong season with a record of 13-6-3 (29 points), bouncing back after a few tough seasons since entering the ECHL in 2021-2022. However, they lost last Friday, losing 6-3 to the Western Conference-leading Toledo Walleye (35 points), who are once again dominating the Central Division. Between the pipes for Cincinnati was Jon Gillies, while Kyle McClellan took the crease for Iowa.

First Period:

Both goaltenders performed admirably during the first half of the period, each stopping several grade-A chances. Midway through the first, Landon Cato fired a puck from the neutral zone that banked off a Cyclones player and into the net, but the goal was later waved off due to offsides, keeping the score tied at 0-0. With 3:02 left in the period, Chas Sharpe fired a laser past Iowa goalie Kyle McClellan after receiving a pass from Ty Voit, marking his seventh goal of the season and giving the Cyclones a 1-0 lead.

With just under a minute remaining in the first period, Cincinnati goaltender Jon Gillies made an outstanding diving save with the net wide open, holding the 1-0 lead as the teams headed into intermission.

Second Period:

Not even a minute into the second period, Ty Voit broke out to a breakaway on a pass from Jacob Frasca, where he deked forehand to backhand around Kyle McClellan, scoring his fourth of the season, extending the lead to 2-0.

With 12:28 left in the second period, Landon Cato one-timed a pass from Kyle Bollers past Kyle Mclellan, scoring his first goal of the season, extending the lead to 3-0 7:32 into the middle frame.

14:16 into the second period, Ryan Miotto of Iowa took a tripping penalty sending the Cyclones to the power play, where Lincoln Griffin wristed a puck past Kyle McClellan as he was screened in front, extending the lead to 4-0.

The period later ended with a score of 4-0.

Third Period:

Opening up the final period of regulation, Nico Blachman of Iowa scored in front of the net beating Gillies, trimming the deficit to 4-1 with just over nineteen minutes left. Just after this goal, Jules Boscq of Iowa took a delay of game penalty, firing the puck over the boards, which they later killed off. 6:14 into the third, Rhett Parsons took a hooking penalty sending Iowa to their first power play of the game, which Cincinnati eventually killed off. Down the stretch, Cincinnati milked out the clock in the final minutes, eventually winning at a final score of 4-1, snapping their four-game losing streak. With this loss, Iowa fell to 13-7-3, while Cincinnati picked up a big win moving to 4-15-3.

I had the chance to catch up with Louie Caporusso post-game after his first game back this season. Read what he had to say below:

“It was fun, it was a ton of fun. You know, you just never know when you’ll get a chance to play again, and with where I am in my career. Any moment I get to step on the ice is treasured.”

– Louie Caporusso, on returning to the lineup

“I think just enjoy the game. I mean, so often you can get caught up in the details and what has happened that you forget to just enjoy the game and winning is enjoyable and when you stick together you tend to win more and when you win more you tend to enjoy more and then it’s just kind of a good way to go.”

– Caporusso, on what he can do to help Cincinnati climb back up in the standings