The Cyclones fought all night long and were rewarded with an overtime goal from Lincoln Griffin to get a 4-3 win over the Fort Wayne Komets in front of 8,213 fans inside Heritage Bank Center Saturday night.
The Cyclones are 31-25-3-0 on the season and continue to hold a playoff spot with 13 games to play. Fort Wayne falls to 31-20-6-1.
- Two goals 1:05 apart helped the Cyclones build a 2-0 lead early in the game, beginning with Zack Andrusiak's 23rd goal of the season. The forward benefitted from Louie Caporusso driving the net to send a puck on Samuel Harvey. A rebound sat there for Andrusiak to slide one through for the opening goal.
- Max Balinson, who made his professional debut, added to the scoring with his first professional goal after collecting a puck at the point, then skating into the left circle to snap a shot through for the 2-0 lead less than seven minutes into the game.
- Fort Wayne responded with their special teams to tie the game by the end of the first period. Kellen Jones pulled the Komets within one on a power play goal, while Anthony Petruzzelli grabbed the puck on a breakaway while on a penalty kill in the final minute of the period, tucking it through the legs of Sean Bonar.
- The Cyclones regained the lead 9:14 into the second on a goal from Dajon Mingo, as the blue liner crashed the net to redirect a shot from Caporusso. Mingo's eighth goal of the season has also given the 'Clones points in seven of his last eight games played.
- Special teams came into play again for the Komets, who scored on a point drive from Zach Pochiro during a power play 13:37 into the middle period.
- Neither team managed a third period conversion, but the Komets bombarded the net of Bonar, who finished the game with 44 saves; a season-high for him personally, along with a season high-47 shots allowed by Cincinnati.
- Griffin wired the game-winning-goal 2:10 into the 3-on-3 session when Mingo spun a pass to the forward in the left circle for a shot that squeaked by Harvey, giving Griffin his 20th goal of the season and the Cyclones a 4-3 overtime win.
The Cyclones play their seventh game in 10 days Sunday afternoon on the road against the Indy Fuel.
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