ECHL: Heartlanders to Reset Clocks, Minds, After Cincinnati Blowout

It was a brutal night for Iowa at the Heritage Bank Center. Cincinnati had full control of the game and had an answer to everything Iowa had planned to go into tonight despite having to shake up their roster, with a final score of 9-4 in favor of the Cyclones.

Louie Caporusso was able to open up scoring for the home side just 12 seconds into the game, an unfortunate new record for or against the Heartlanders. Cincinnati’s Andrusiak and Panwar were also able to score in the first period, resulting in Iowa’s starting goalie, Hunter Jones, being pulled in favor of alternate keeper Peyton Jones.

During that first period, a brutal hit on Iowa’s Liam Coughlin by Cristiano DiGiactino resulted in Michael Knaub jumping the bench to fight on behalf of Coughlin. Knaub was immediately ejected and will likely be suspended for leaving the bench to fight, but we will await the ECHL’s final ruling on this.

The Second Period had enough scoring for a whole game, with Iowa’s Maxim Cajkovic netting his 4^th of the season, which was quickly matched by Cincinnati. This exact sequence happened twice more following Jake Durflinger’s 1^st of the season and Liam Coughlin’s 2^nd. The Cyclones also netted a 4^th of the period from Matej Pekar to close out the period.

Jesse Jacques was able to grab a late consolation goal against home keeper Talyn Boyko to cut the lead to 7-4, where Iowa chose not to pull Peyton Jones for a last-ditch effort. Unfortunately, a slew of late-game penalties on both sides resulted in Cincinnati grabbing two more to end the game.

Iowa will get their next chance against the Cyclones on December 1^st at the Heritage Bank Center.

While the Heartlanders will move their clock back following this game, they will look forward to an exciting six-game homestand against the Kalamazoo Wings and Utah Grizzlies, featuring this season’s restock of team store The Silo ahead of Wednesday, November 8^th’s game, a Veteran’s Day special on Saturday the 11^th at an unusual 7:00 pm, a 10:35 am puck drop on Wednesday the 15^th for Field Trip Night, and a Friday the 17^th Military Appreciation Night.