CINCINNATI CYCLONES (29-26-6-4)
vs.
GREENVILLE ROAD WARRIORS (40-21-3-1)
DATE: Saturday, March 19, 2011
TIME: 7:05pm
SITE: BI-LO Center - Greenville, SC
RADIO: None
WEBCAST: CyclonesHockey.com (American One)
NHL AFFILIATES
Cincinnati Cyclones: Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators
Greenville Road Warriors: New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers
NEXT HOME GAME
Friday, March 25 vs. Toledo Walleye - 7:30pm
Kids Eat Free Night - All fans ages 2-12 in attendance will receive a FREE meal courtesy of John Morrell, Sunkist and Sun Drop.
TONIGHT'S MATCHUP: Tonight, Cincinnati will wrap up its longest road trip of the season with the finale of three against the Greenville Road Warriors. Despite last night’s 5-0 loss, Cincinnati remains three points ahead of the Gwinnett Gladiators for the eighth and final playoff spot - as they, too, lost in regulation last night. So far on this two week trek away from home, the Cyclones have earned nine out of a possible 12 points. Against Greenville this year, Cincinnati’s record stands at 1-1-0-1. Ironically, if the postseason were to start today, the Cyclones would face the Road Warriors in a best-of-five first-round series.
SCOUTING THE ROAD WARRIORS: With last night’s 5-0 victory, Greenville clinched a Kelly Cup Playoff spot and currently holds the overall number one seed in the Eastern Conference. Winners of seven out of their last ten, the Road Warriors are led offensively by former Cyclone Jimmy Kilpatrick - who is on an 11-game point streak since February 22 (5g, 10a). He is also the team’s active leader against Cincinnati, posting six points (6a) in the three meetings. Rookie Marc Olivier-Vallerand, who had a multi-point game last night, ranks third among all ECHL first year players in scoring - 50 points in 63 games. With starting netminder Nic Riopel still on bereavement leave, veteran goaltender Chris Beckford-Tseu will tend the pipes again tonight. This season in the ECHL, he has a 2-5-0 record with a 4.20 goals-against average. Last night, he earned his 11th career professional shutout - turning aside 27 Cyclones shots.
An Eye on the East: As of today, here is a quick snapshot of how the Eastern Conference playoff race shapes up:
5 - Elmira 71 points
6 - Florida 70 points
7 - Wheeling 69 points
8 - Cincinnati 68 points
9 - Gwinnett 65 points
10 - Toledo 61 points
The 100 Club: Barret Ehgoetz is just four goals shy of his 100th as a member of the Cyclones. Only three other players in Cincinnati history have achieved this milestone - Don Biggs (147), Gilbert Dionne (134) and Paul Lawless (132). Last night, the Cincinnati captain skated in his 400th professional game.
Get the Lead: Scoring first has been crucial to most teams’ success this season. That’s even more true against the Road Warriors. This season when Greenville lights the lamp first, they are 31-9-1. For Cincinnati, they are 20-6-5 in such situations.
Southern Success: The Cyclones will wrap up their season schedule against the South Division today. Including a three-game sweep of South Carolina last weekend, Cincinnati now owns an astounding 13-4-2 record against the “South” in 2010-11. Perhaps more surprising, though, is their goals-for/goals-against breakdown; this year, Cincinnati has outscored the South Division by a combined total of 63-50 while outshooting them by an average of 34-26 per game.
No Need for Nail Clippers: This season, the Cyclones have been involved in some extremely close games. In fact, nearly 48 percent of their games have been decided by a single goal. In one-goal games this season, Cincinnati’s record stands at 16-5-10.
The Ides of March: Cincinnati will need to wrap up a solid month on the ice to solidify a Kelly Cup Playoff spot. Including games this season, the Cyclones have earned a 31-17-3 record in the March since 2008.
SEASON SERIES (4 Meetings - 1 Remaining)
Feb. 25 Greenville 3 at Cincinnati 4 Final OT
Mar. 17 Cincinnati 2 at Greenville 3 Final SO
Mar. 18 Cincinnati 0 at Greenville 5 Final
Mar. 19 Cincinnati at Greenville 7:05pm EDT
