Justin Vaive scored a power play goal in the second period, but the Cyclones fell at home against the Toledo Walleye by a 4-1 final Sunday afternoon.
The Cyclones lose consecutive games for the first time since the opening week of December. Cincinnati holds on to second place in the Central Division standings with a 20-13-1-0 record. Toledo sits five points ahead of the 'Clones for first with a 22-8-0-2 mark.
- The scoring started early for Toledo, with Mitchell Heard intercepting a puck in the attacking slot. He and Brett Boeing did a give-and-go maneuver, leading the puck to the front of the net for Heard's opening goal just over two minutes into the period.
- Both teams were awarded power plays in the first period that went unsuccessful, but a Dajon Mingo tripping penalty called early in the second would help the Walleye. Brandon Hawkins connected on a wrist shot from the left circle to beat Brendan Bonello two minutes into the period for a 2-0 advantage.
- Cincinnati struck back with its only goal of the night when the Walleye committed two minor penalties 10 seconds apart. With 1:50 of a 5-on-3 advantage to work with, The 'Clones cycled the puck off a draw win until Jesse Schultz found Vaive perched in front of the net to slam home his 11th goal of the season. 8:00 into the second period. Vaive is now tied with Louie Caporusso for the team lead in goals among active members of the team.
- The Cyclones remained within a goal until 5:55 left in the third. TJ Hensick skated across the Cyclones line and fed Keeghan Howdashell for a breakaway that he slipped under Bonello, giving Toledo a 3-1 lead. The 'Clones earned a power play later in the period and eventually pulled Bonello for the extra attacker, but Boeing forced a turnover and was able to skate with the puck to the empty net for the 4-1 final.
- Bonello made 30 saves and falls to 1-1-0 on the season, taking his first loss as a pro. Max Milosek was in goal for Toledo and stopped 24 shots for the win.
"I think we had spurts of good hockey, but we made it too easy for them," said Cyclones forward Gino Esteves. "They were coming off three games in three days and we kind of let them play their game. We know with a skilled team like this if we let them do that they'll take over. There's a little break here with the All-Star Classic, so we'll regroup after this and get ready to go next weekend."
Wyatt Ege will now head to Jacksonville, Florida for the 2022 ECHL All-Star Classic this Monday. Following that, the Cyclones return to practice later in the week and visit the Indy Fuel Friday night.
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