ECHL Game Recap: Toledo Walleye vs Cincinnati Cyclones l 12/31/2024

The Cincinnati Cyclones hosted their Central Division rival Toledo Walleye on New Year’s Eve at a packed Heritage Bank Center, filled with 10,825 fans. The Cyclones came into Tuesday night off a 6-5 OT win over the Toledo Walleye up north on Sunday, now facing them again at their home arena. Starting between the pipes for Toledo was Carter Gylander, while Pavel Cajan was in goal for Cincinnati.

First Period:

The Cyclones came out firing shots at Toledo goaltender Carter Gylander, eventually totaling 15 shots on net in the first period. However, Toledo was first on the board with a Hunter Johannes wrist shot goal through traffic at 12:22, giving the Walleye a 1-0 lead.

The pesky Cyclones did not go away though, later evening the game up as Mathieu Gosselin sniped a shot through the five-hole of Gylander, evening the game at 1-1.

Later on, in the final minutes of the period, Chris Dodero extended the lead to 2-1 with a wrist shot from the blue line, scoring on their first power play of the game.

Second Period:

Scoring the lone goal in the second period was Tyler Spezia of Toledo to even the game at 2-2 3:49 into the second period.

Toledo goaltender Carter Gylander weathered the storm from the Cyclones during the middle-frame, keeping the Walleye within reach before they eventually tied the game at 2-2. He faced 10 total shots in the second, blocking all of them as the game headed into the third tied at 2-2.

Third Period:

Early in the third period, the Cyclones’ power play earned another chance after Colin Swoyer was assessed an interference penalty at 1:19. The Toledo penalty kill weathered the storm, and the momentum continued to favor the Walleye. Around 10 minutes later, Jacob Frasca was caught slashing, sending Toledo to the power play, but the Cyclones’ penalty kill prevailed for the second time in the game. Down the stretch, the Cyclones had plenty of chances to regain the lead but fumbled the puck multiple times on odd-man rushes. With a little less than three minutes left, Toledo silenced the large crowd at Heritage Bank Center as Colin Swoyer sniped a rebound past Cincinnati goaltender Pavel Cajan, taking a late 3-2 lead.

The Cyclones continued to push in the waning minutes but could not find the net, resulting in a 3-2 win for Toledo. With this loss, the Cyclones fell to 6-19-4, the league’s worst record, while Toledo improved to 20-7-4 (44 points), firmly holding first place in the Central Division, seven points ahead of the Fort Wayne Komets (2nd).

The Cyclones remain last in the ECHL standings with just 16 points, three behind the Utah Grizzlies. They are in desperate need of a long winning streak after this incredibly rough start to the season, but it appears that won’t be coming anytime soon. The Cyclones have another action-packed stretch coming up, playing Friday (Bloomington), Saturday (Indy), and Sunday (Fort Wayne), a total of three games in three days.

Click here to see the photo gallery of this game by ITR’s photographer Héctor Urcia.