Lincoln Griffin scored 56 seconds into overtime, helping the Cyclones hold off the Fuel's comeback efforts with a 4-3 win Friday night at Heritage Bank Center.
The Cyclones continue to grip first place in the central division, going 6-0-0-1 to start the season, while the Fuel remain at their heels sitting two points back at 5-1-1-0.
- Dajon Mingo (1) got the lone goal from the first period in a frame where Cincinnati dominated the pace. The 'Clones outshot Indy, 14-5 in the first, and Mingo's goal came 12:25 into the period as the defenseman slipped down the right side, tucking a puck through Indy net minder Mitchell Weeks to give the Cyclones a 1-0 lead.
- Jan Mandát tied the game on a two-on-one pass from Seamus Malone 10:24 into the second, but the Cyclones quickly responded. After Kohen Olischefski took an awkward hit in the corner, Cody Caron stood up for his teammate, dropping the gloves with Indy's Chase Lang. The fight sparked a pair of quick goals from Josh Passolt (4) on a breakaway and Justin Vaive (5) tipping in a power play goal to make it 3-1. Cincinnati's goals came 2:51 apart. Passolt has scored four of Cincinnati's last nine goals, while Vaive leads the team in goals with five.
- After carrying a two goal lead into the third, the Fuel managed a pair of power play strikes to knot the game up. Cam Hillis crashed the net on a goal-mouth feed by Alex Wideman to direct a puck past Cincinnati goaltender Mark Sinclair 5:20 into the third. Keoni Texeira managed to tie the game, this time with Josh Passolt in the box for high-sticking. Texeira's shot went through traffic, beating Sinclair to make it 3-3 7:41 into the third period and ultimately forcing overtime.
- Less than a minute into overtime, The Cyclones won an offensive zone draw. Dajon Mingo walked the blue line before slipping a puck to Patrick Polino, who found Griffin cross-ice for a one timer that beat Weeks and lifted the Cyclones to a 4-3 win in front of 4,869 fans.
- Sinclair made 21 saves for the win and is 2-0 on the season with Cincinnati.
