Cyclones Take Season Series Finale from Fort Wayne, 3-1

FORT WAYNE, Indiana – The Cincinnati Cyclones (32-17-4-2) came up with some timely penalty killing and preserved a 3-1 win over the Fort Wayne Komets (26-27-1-1) in front of 7,678 at Memorial Coliseum on Friday night. The victory was also the 100th for Head Coach Jarrod Skalde behind the Cincinnati bench.

Cincinnati jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 8:50 mark when David Pacan sent a beautiful wrist shot past Komets goaltender Jeff Deslauriers (W, 28 saves 0-1-0) after catching a tape-to-tape pass from Chris Reed in the right circle. And thanks to 10 saves from Michael Houser (W, 21 saves, 8-5-0) and a strong penalty kill, the Cyclones took the one-goal edge into the first intermission.

The Komets used a power play to even things up at the 12:36 mark of the second period; from the center of the blue line, Jamie Milam blasted home his first of the season past a screened Houser, making it a 1-1 contest. Neither team could find the net the rest of the stanza and remained deadlocked after 40 minutes.

In the final period, a Fort Wayne turnover proved costly as Jack MacLellan grabbed the puck behind the net and hit Josh Shalla in front of the net and easily buried his 18th goal of the year – giving his team a 2-1 edge. The Komets had a late power play and pulled their goalie in an attempt to tie it, but Houser and company stayed strong again; Patrick Cehlin caught up to a loose puck during the final seconds of regulation and slammed in an empty net goal to seal a 3-1 win for Cincinnati.

The Cyclones will return to the ice at U.S. Bank Arena TOMORROW when they host the Wheeling Nailers at 7:30pm. It will be the 2013 Pink in the Rink Night to benefit Pink Ribbon Girls! The Cyclones will wear specialty jerseys that get auctioned off after the game with net proceeds going to Pink Ribbon Girls – plus, the contest will be played on PINK ICE! Call 513.421.PUCK or visit CyclonesHockey.com to reserve your seats! Fans can also get the latest team updates throughout the season on Facebook and Twitter (@CincyCyclones).

Click here for tonight's box score.