For Immediate Release: January 19, 2018
Game 36 (Home Game 18)
Vs. Ft. Wayne Komets (22-12-2-0, 46 pts)
Friday, January 19, 2018 - 7:35pm ET
U.S. Bank Arena - Cincinnati, OH
Overview: The Cyclones dropped their second straight one-goal decision on Sunday evening, 2-1, to the Toledo Walleye. Despite the loss, Cincinnati still holds down the third spot in the ECHL’s North Division, three points back of Ft. Wayne in second place.
Sunday Evening Recap: The Cincinnati Cyclones (21-13-1-0) fell just short Sunday night against the Toledo Walleye, 2-1, despite an action-filled game from the start. Forward Justin Danforth scored Cincinnati’s lone-goal. Toledo outshot the Cyclones, 37-25, with goaltender Jonas Johansson stopping 35 in the loss.
Last Friday Night Recap: The Cincinnati Cyclones (21-12-1-0) fell to the Kansas City Mavericks, 3-2, on Friday night. Forwards Jesse Schultz and Shawn O’Donnell tallied the goals for the Cyclones. The Cyclones outshot the Mavericks, 25-22, including 10-1 in the third, with goaltender Jason Kasdorf stopping 19 in the loss.
Last Saturday Night Recap: The Cincinnati Cyclones (21-11-1-0) collected a 4-2 Throwback Night win over the Wheeling Nailers, in front of 14,025 fans at U.S. Bank Arena. Forward Justin Danforth tallied a pair of goals, while forwards Shawn O’Donnell and Brandon McNally added lone tallies for the Cyclones. Cincinnati outshot Wheeling, 41-33 on the night, with goaltender Jonas Johansson stopping 31 in the win. Saturday was a penalty-filled affair as well, as the sides combined for 64 minutes in the box.
Previewing Ft. Wayne: The Komets have dropped three of their last four and four of their last six contests, however are coming off a 5-3 road win over the Brampton Beast prior to the all-star break. The Komets continue to be one of the League’s top offenses, average a League second-best 3.89 goals per game. They are led by forward Shawn Szydlowski who has accounted for 19 goals and 21 assists through 31 games played this season. He is followed by forwards Garrett Thompson (16g, 20a) and Gabriel Desjardins (14g, 17a) who round out the top three. In goal, former Cyclone Michael Houser has posted a 16-8-2-0 record, along with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage.
Inside the Series: The Cyclones have won each of the first four meetings between the two, outscoring the Komets, 18-9, in those contests. The teams are slated to meet four more times after Friday night.
Next Game Preview: The Cyclones head to Indy for the third time this season, looking for their first win over the Fuel on the year. Saturday will be the fourth of 10 matchups on the season, with four of the final six coming at U.S. Bank Arena.
NEED-TO-KNOW
All-Star Success: Cyclones forward Justin Danforth left his mark on this year’s CCM/ECHL All-Star Classic in Indianapolis this past Monday. He scored a goal in Team Central’s 5-2 loss Team Mountain, and set a new ECHL All-Star Skills Competition record in the Fastest Skater event with 12.75 seconds. The Oshawa, ON, native leads all ECHL rookies and is third in overall League scoring with 41 points (21g, 20a) through the first 35 games of the season.
Packed Schedule: Cincinnati will have their hands full in the second half of the season, playing their final 37 games over a stretch of 80 days, which averages out to a game every 2.16 days. Additionally, Cincinnati has nine stretches of three games in three days, two stretches of four games in five days, and one stretch of seven games in nine days.
Cyclones Duo Called Up: The Cincinnati Cyclones, proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Buffalo Sabres and American Hockey League’s (AHL) Rochester Americans, have announced that defenseman and team captain Eric Knodel has been recalled by the Americans, while forward Shawn O’Donnell has been signed to a Professional Tryout Agreement (PTO) by the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. This is the second call up of the season for Knodel, who is tied for sixth amongst League defenseman with nine goals and 17 assists. He appeared in a pair of games for the Americans earlier this season, however did not record a point. O’Donnell currently ranks third on the Cyclones, and is tied for eighth in League scoring with 36 points (13g, 23a) through 28 games. He is currently riding a four-game point streak, accounting for three goals and two assists in that time, and recently saw an 11-game point streak come to an end where he totaled four goals and 17 assists in that time.
Home Power Surge: The Cyclones have the League’s top power play at home, converting on 21.9% of their man advantage opportunities (14/64) at U.S. Bank Arena. Cincinnati has power play tallies in three of their last four home games, lighting the lamp six times on 18 chances.
Early and Often: The Cyclones are outscoring the opposition 35-26 in the first period this season, and are 12-5-0-0 when leading after 20 minutes. Additionally, Cincinnati is 15-4-0-0 when scoring first, and 11-1-0-0 when scoring the first two goals of the game.
Second Line Prowess: The line of Brandon McNally, Daniel Muzito-Bagenda, and Winston Day Chief have led the Cyclones offensively over the last 13 games, totaling 12 goals and 20 assists in that span.
Limited Opportunity: Cincinnati is fourth in the ECHL, averaging 2.69 goals against per game, and have allowed three or fewer goals in 15 of their last 19 games. Additionally, they have given up more than four goals on just six occasions.
Finishing What They Started: The Cyclones have a 16-1-0-0 record when leading through two periods this season. This is a continuing trend from last season, when the Cyclones were 23-1-3-1 when leading after one, and 26-1-2-0 when leading after 40 minutes.
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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