For Immediate Release: April 21, 2018
Kelly Cup Playoffs Divisional Semifinal
Vs. Ft. Wayne Komets - Game 4
Saturday, April 21, 2018 - 7:35pm ET
U.S. Bank Arena - Cincinnati, OH
FULL GAME NOTES | VIDEO PREVIEW | GAME 3 VIDEO RECAP | GAME 3 HIGHLIGHTS
Overview: The Cyclones earned a come-from-behind, 7-6 overtime win on Thursday night for their first win of the series in Game 3. The Komets now lead the series, 2 games to 1.
Game 3 Recap: The Cincinnati Cyclones beat the Ft. Wayne Komets, 7-6 in overtime, in Game 3 of the Divisional Semifinals of the 2018 Kelly Cup Playoffs on Thursday evening. The Komets lead the best-of-seven series, 2 games to 1. Forward Justin Vaive netted a pair of goals, while forwards Daniel Muzito-Bagenda, Alex Kile, Jesse Schultz, and Shawn O’Donnell scored the goals in regulation, and Arvin Atwal scored the game-winner in overtime for the Cyclones. The Cyclones were outshot, 51-31 on the night, with goaltender Jonas Johansson stopping 45 in the win.
Game 2 Recap: The Cincinnati Cyclones fell to the Ft. Wayne Komets, 3-1 in Game 2 of the Divisional Semifinals of the 2018 Kelly Cup Playoffs on Sunday evening. The Komets lead the best-of-seven series, 2 games to 0. Forward Justin Vaive tallied the lone goal for the Cyclones. The Cyclones were outshot, 38-34 on the evening, with goaltender Jonas Johansson stopping 35 in the loss.
Game 1 Recap: The Cincinnati Cyclones fell to the Ft. Wayne Komets, 4-3 in double overtime, in Game 1 of the Divisional Semifinals of the 2018 Kelly Cup Playoffs on Saturday night. The Komets lead the best-of-seven series, 1 game to 0. Forwards Daniel Muzito-Bagenda, Justin Vaive, and Jesse Schultz lit the lamp for the Cyclones, while goaltender Jonas Johansson had a busy night in net, stopping 68 Ft. Wayne shots. The Komets outshot Cincinnati, 72-31 on the evening, with the Cyclones converting on 50% of their power play chances.
Season Series Recap: The Cyclones posted a 5-4-0-0 record against the Komets this season, with two of those wins coming in overtime. Cincinnati started out the nine-game series hot, winning each of the first four games between the two sides and outscoring the Komets 18-9 in those contests. Ft. Wayne turned the tide in the final five games, posting a 4-0-1-0 record in those contests, while outscoring Cincinnati, 23-11. The Cyclones are in the playoffs for the ninth time in the last 12 years after finishing third in the Central Division, three points ahead of the Indy Fuel. Cincinnati had one of the top power play groups during the regular season, ranking second in both overall (20.1%- 56/279) and home (24.1%- 33/137) conversion rates. Cincinnati was one of the ECHL’s strongest teams when playing with a lead as well, posting a 22-8-1-0 record when leading after one, and a 26-4-0-0 mark when up after two periods.
Previewing Cincinnati: The Cyclones were led by All-ECHL Second Team member Jesse Schultz, who ranked second in League scoring with 75 points, including a League-leading 57 assists. He also led the Cyclones in power play scoring with 32 points (3g, 29a). He was followed by the reigning ECHL Rookie of the Year, Justin Danforth, who accounted for 28 goals and 31 assists in 44 ECHL games played. Defenseman and team captain Eric Knodel placed third on the Cyclones and in League defenseman scoring with 13 goals and 39 assists, earning him a spot on the All-ECHL Second Team as well, while forward Daniel Muzito-Bagenda came in fourth with 46 points (19g, 27a) in 46 games played. Team-goals leader Justin Vaive rounded out the top five in scoring with 32 goals and 19 assists. Between the pipes, both Jonas Johansson and Jason Kasdorf virtually split time right down the middle, with Johansson recording a 14-11-1-0 record along with a 3.13 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage, while Kasdorf countered with a 13-11-1-0 record with a 3.04 GAA and a .903 SV%.
Previewing Ft. Wayne: The Komets finished second in the ECHL’s Central Division, seven points back of the Toledo Walleye in first. This is the fifth consecutive trip to the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the Komets, who have advanced past the first round in each of the previous four seasons. Ft. Wayne wrapped up the 2017-18 season with the ECHL’s top offense, scoring 290 total goals for an average of 4.03 goals per game. Additionally, Ft. Wayne ranked just ahead of the Cyclones in ninth place with 3.00 goals allowed per 60 minutes. They were led by the ECHL’s top scorer in Shawn Szydlowski, who accounted for 31 goals and 48 assists through 64 games this season. He was followed by Garrett Thompson who netted 29 goals along with 42 helpers, and team goals leader Gabriel Desjardins, who totaled 67 points (33g, 34a) in 58 games this season. In goal, former Cyclone Michael Houser led the way with a 28-11-4-0 record, along with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage.
NEED-TO-KNOW
Americans Reassign Danforth: The Cincinnati Cyclones, proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Buffalo Sabres and the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Rochester Americans, have announced that forward Justin Danforth has been reassigned to Cincinnati by the Americans. Danforth has appeared in 15 games with the Americans this season, accounting for a pair of goals and three assists. Named ECHL Rookie of the year on April 9, Danforth ranked third amongst ECHL rookies with 28 goals and 31 assists, along with a team-leading plus-24 on-ice rating, through 44 games with the Cyclones this season. Before his recall on February 13, Danforth was riding a seven-game point streak totaling seven goals and 10 assists in that time, and he also enjoyed an 11-game point streak from November 18-December 15, accounting for seven goals and 10 assists in that span. He was also the Cyclones’ representative in this season’s CCM/ECHL All-Star Classic, recording a goal and emerging victorious in the Fastest Skater Competition, setting a new ECHL record with a lap of 12.75 seconds.
Sharing the Load: The Cyclones received some much-needed secondary scoring in Thursday’s 7-6 overtime win over the Komets, as six different players scored goals and eight different Cyclones recorded at least one point. Forward Daniel Muzito-Bagenda led the way with a goal and three assists, while forwards Justin Vaive (2g, 1a) and Shawn O’Donnell (1g, 2a) each had three-point nights. Additionally, Alex Kile (1g, 1a), Myles Powell (2a), Arvin Atwal (1g) Chris Leone (1a) all recorded their first points of the playoffs.
Heavy Work Load: Cyclones goaltender Jonas Johansson steered aside 104 of the 109 Komet shots he faced in Games 1 and 2, including 68 in Saturday’s 4-3 Game 1, double overtime loss. Saturday’s Game 1 marks the highest shot total the Cyclones have ever allowed in a playoff game (72), and the most saves from a Cyclones goaltender in a post season contest as well (68). Overall, the Komets are outshooting Cincinnati, 161-94, through the first three games.
Power Moves: The Cyclones have gone 4/12 on the power play through the first three games of the series, recording at lead one man-advantage marker in each of the first three games. This is a continuing trend from the regular season where Cincinnati had the ECHL’s second-best power play at 20.1% (56/279) and tallied at least one power play goal in 23 of their final 34 games, going 31-for-118 in that stretch (26.3%). They also had the second-ranked home power play unit at 24.1% (33/137).
Single Game Playoff Tickets Now on Sale: Tickets for the first round of the 2018 Kelly Cup Playoffs are now on sale. Tickets start at $18.00 for rows two and higher, and are just $30.50 for the front row on the glass. Cyclones playoff packages for every round of the 2018 Kelly Cup Playoffs are already on sale, and start at $288 per seat for the general public and include all 16 potential playoff games.
New Affiliation: This offseason, the Cyclones, in conjunction with the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Buffalo Sabres, announced a new affiliation agreement. For Cincinnati, the move comes following a 10-year partnership with the Nashville Predators, while the Sabres recently concluded a two-year relationship with the now-defunct Elmira Jackals. This affiliation will be a reunion of sorts for the cities of Cincinnati and Buffalo, as the Sabres’ American Hockey League (AHL) Affiliate from 1971-1974 was the Cincinnati Swords. The Rochester Americans will serve as Cincinnati’s new AHL affiliate, and have been the AHL affiliate of the Sabres since 2011. This is not the first time Cincinnati and Rochester have been affiliated, as the two clubs teamed up in 2010-11 when the Americans were affiliated with the Florida Panthers.
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