Carter Gylander Records First Walleye Shutout of the Season in Cincinnati
ECHL Toledo Walleye

Carter Gylander Records First Walleye Shutout of the Season in Cincinnati

Published on January 2, 2026 under ECHL (ECHL)
Toledo Walleye News Release


Cincinnati, OH - The Toledo Walleye rang in the new year with a 4-0 victory against the Cincinnati Cyclones at the Heritage Bank Center tonight. Carter Gylander recorded his second professional shutout of the season (his first was with Grand Rapids) and his 4th career pro shutout with 29 saves on the night, Denis Smirnov extended his point streak to 7 games with a goal, Jed Pietila scored his first goal of the season in short-handed fashion, Brandon Hawkins extended his league lead in points (40) with a goal, and Tanner Dickinson and Jacob Truscott each recorded two assists.

How it Happened:

Cincinnati took the game's first penalty, giving the Walleye the first power play of the night just 1:21 into the game. Colby Ambrosio scored his 7th goal of the season four seconds after the penalty expired to put the Fish up 1-0 early. Mitch Lewandowski and Nick Andrews got the assists on the goals.

Cole Fraser extended his league lead in penalty minutes with a minor penalty for roughing at the 5:36 mark of the first, putting the Walleye on the power play again. Toledo got 1:51 of 5-on-3 hockey after a cross-checking call nine seconds later.

Denis Smirnov scored his 9th goal of the year with 7 seconds to go in the 5-on-3 advantage at the 7:30 mark of the first to put the Walleye up 2-0, as Tanner Dickinson and Riley McCourt got assists on the goal. Smirnov's goal extended his point streak to seven consecutive games.

Toledo took a high-sticking call to put them on the penalty kill for the first time at the 13:56 mark of the first period, killing it off. Toledo outshot Cincinnati 10-8 as the first period came to a close, maintaining a 2-0 lead.

The second period started with a Cincinnati power play on a hooking call against Toledo, their second power play of the night just 34 seconds into the period as Toledo killed it off.

Cincinnati was called for a delay of game penalty at the 6:13 mark of the second period, leading to Toledo's 4th power play of the day, which was killed off by the Cyclones.

Brandon Hawkins scored his 16th goal of the season just before the halfway mark of the game to put the Walleye up 3-0 over the Cyclones. Tanner Dickinson got his 2nd assist on the night on the goal, and Jacob Truscott got the secondary assist.

Toledo took a hooking call at the 12:36 mark of the second, putting Cincinnati on another power play. However, Jed Pietila buried Toledo's 11th short-handed goal of the season, a team single-season record. Pietila got his first goal of the season at the 14:00 mark of the second with assists from Will Hillman (extending his league lead in short-handed points to 8) and Jacob Truscott (his second assist of the night). Toledo killed off the penalty, their third kill of the night.

A scrum broke out at the 15:37 mark of the second period. Nick Rhéaume got a 5-minute major (fighting) and a game misconduct (aggressor), and Dylan Moulton got a 2-minute minor for roughing. Toledo got a three-minute power play after two minutes of 4-on-4 play. That power play would continue into the third period, as Toledo finished the second period outshooting Cincinnati 23-16, leading 4-0 over the Cyclones.

Cincinnati switched goaltenders heading into the third period, replacing Tommy Scarfone with Kyle McClellan.

Toledo took a slashing penalty at the 10:58 mark of the third period, giving Cincinnati their 4th power play chance of the day, which was killed off.

Carter Gylander completed the shutout for the Walleye, stopping all 29 shots he saw in the 4-0 victory. Shots were even 29-29 to end the game, Toledo's penalty kill was a perfect 4-for-4 with a short-handed goal, and the power-play finished 1-for-4.

Three Stars:

1 - G Carter Gylander (SO, 29 SV)

2 - F Colby Ambrosio (GWG)

3 - F Tanner Dickinson (2 A)

What's Next:

The Walleye will stay in Cincinnati as they finish up the second game of a two-game weekend series tomorrow at the Heritage Bank Center against the Cyclones, looking to repeat tonight's victory. Puck drop for tomorrow's contest is set for 4:05 PM.

Check out the Toledo Walleye Statistics

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ECHL Stories from January 2, 2026


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