The Cincinnati Cyclones took on the Toledo Walleye on Saturday in the annual Teddy Bear Toss game at Heritage Bank Center, packed out with 9,550 fans, who were awaiting the first Cyclones goal.
The night before at the Heritage Bank Center, the Cyclones faced a tough battle against the Wheeling Nailers, ultimately losing 4-3 in overtime. Matt Koopman netted the game-winning goal for the Nailers, but even with the loss, the Cyclones managed to snag an important point in the standings as they continued their playoff push.
On the other hand, the Walleye came into Saturday’s matchup on a high note, having just secured a 4-3 victory over their rival, the Fort Wayne Komets. Brandon Hawkins shone with two goals, including his 24th of the season, helping the Walleye maintain a firm grip on the Central Division lead.
For this game, Jon Gillies was in net for Cincinnati, while Jan Bednar took the crease for Toledo, marking Bednar’s 26th start of the season.
The game opened with former Cyclone Jalen Smereck getting penalized for hooking about halfway through the first period. Unfortunately for the Cyclones, they struggled to capitalize against the ninth-ranked Walleye’s penalty kill. Later on, Cincinnati’s Jacob Bengtsson found himself in the box for cross-checking deep in his own zone, but to their credit, the Cincinnati penalty kill was quick on the puck, successfully clearing it 200 feet down the ice twice. As the period came to a close with a score of 0-0, fans were still buzzing, eagerly waiting for their chance to throw teddy bears onto the ice with a Cyclones goal.
At 7:50 into the second period, Brandon Hawkins found the back of the net after a controversial play where Gillies was interfered with before the shot. Somehow, the officials didn’t wave the goal off, allowing Toledo to take a 1-0 lead. Following that goal, the Cyclones found themselves in a tough spot with back-to-back penalties. First, Rhett Parsons got called for a questionable roughing penalty, and then Remy Parker was penalized for cross-checking. Despite this, the Cyclones managed to fight their way back to even strength.
The drama didn’t end there, though. Justin Vaive was tripped into the boards, barely “retaliating” back, and was handed an absurd roughing penalty. This decision sent the Heritage Bank Center into an uproar, with fans loudly showing their frustration.
The second period wrapped up with a score of 1-0 in favor of Toledo, but it was the most poorly officiated period I’ve ever witnessed in an ECHL game.
Just a little over a minute into the third period, Jalen Smereck found himself in the penalty box once again after being called for delay of game for shooting the puck over the boards. Shortly after, Toledo’s Conlan Keenan got called for boarding, which set up a five-on-three advantage for a full minute, but the Cyclones could not get one past the brick wall that was Jan Bednar.
Conlan Keenan later went back to the box only a minute later, this time for interference, and the Cyclones were once again unable to even the game. The onslaught of Walleye penalties continued, as Brandon Hawkins later took a tripping penalty 9:35 into the period, but Cincinnati yet again could not convert one past Bednar, despite numerous great looks.
With just 5:22 remaining in the game, the teddies were finally flying as Kyle Bollers sniped a redirected shot past Bednar, scoring his seventh goal of the season and sending 10,718 teddy bears to the ice.
After a tight 60 minutes of regulation play, the game moved into sudden death overtime. Right from the start of extra time, Jon Gillies was unreal with two incredible blocker saves that kept the score tied at one. Shortly after, Jan Bednar matched him with a series of stunning saves of his own, as time ticked down in the seven-minute overtime. Finally, someone found the back of the net, and to the Cyclones fans’ dismay, it was Tyler Spezia of Toledo after an exhilarating six and a half minutes of overtime.
With the 2-1 win, Toledo moved to 28-10-6-0, still in firm control of the Central Division.
Saturday’s game was undoubtedly Jon Gillies’ best as a Cyclone, with an impressive 26 saves on 28 shots. He made some incredible stops, especially during overtime, including two one-on-one breakaways. Even though the Cyclones came up short, they outplayed Toledo for much of the back half, hitting the bar five times. On the opposing side, Jan Bednar proved to be a brick wall all night, stopping 26 of the 27 shots fired his way.
The biggest key takeaway was the Cyclones’ struggle on the power play, going 0 for 5. Against a team like Toledo, that simply won’t cut it if they want to win more in this season series. Improving the power play has to be a priority for Head Coach Jason Payne, especially if they want to make a playoff push.
Despite the loss, the Cyclones currently sit at 16-21-7-0. While it’s disappointing, they did manage to grab a point in the standings. To really close the gap on Bloomington and Indy, they need to start racking up two points every chance they get, especially in games they should’ve won like this one.
Looking ahead, Cincinnati will be back in action next Wednesday at home, where they’ll face the Iowa Heartlanders at 7:35 PM EST.
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