Sports stats



Cincinnati Cyclones

Cyclones Clinch Home Ice In 4-3 Overtime Win!

April 3, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones News Release


CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Cincinnati Cyclones got a powerplay goal from rookie Mark Van Guilder 2:11 into overtime to secure a 4-3 win over Johnstown. The goal was Van Guilder's second of the night and was Cincinnati first extra session game since December 20. The win secured home ice in the opening round of the Kelly Cup playoffs and means that the Cyclones will host games one and two of the best of seven series will be played at U.S. Bank Arena on Thursday, April 9 and Friday, April 10.

It was the 15th come-from-behind win of the season for the Cyclones and the third straight game that Cincinnati entered the third period trailing Johnstown by a goal and rallying to win the contest.

Johnstown opened the scoring 13:40 into the opening period when during a two-man advantage power play Mike Knight stepped in the slot between the lower face off dots and took a feed from behind the net to score his fifth goal of the season. Trevor Hendrikx and Petr Pohl had the assists on the score. Cincinnati would answer with a five-on-three score of its own at 18:24 when rookie Mark Van Guilder banged home his 24th goal of the year. Van Guilder set up at the left goalpost and slapped home a feed from Barret Ehgoetz who sent the pass from the opposite goal line through the goal crease. T.J. McElroy had the other assist. The shots on goal favored Johnstown, 11-4, in the opening stanza.

The Chiefs regained the lead at 1:54 of the second period when Todd Griffith stole a pass up the middle of the ice in the Cincinnati zone and rifled his tenth goal of the campaign past Ryan Nie. Cincinnati bounced back with a Matt Syroczynski shot from the left wing side, just inside the right post of Kris Mayotte for his 25th goal of the year. Felix Petit and Jimmy Kilpatrick had the assists. A Johnstown power play goal at 12:35 from Andy Contois gave the Chiefs a 3-2 lead. Contois got loose between two Cincinnati defenders and scored his eleventh goal after taking a feed from Randy Rowe. The shots on goal again favored Johnstown, 8-4.

Cincinnati forced the overtime when defenseman Mike Salekin fired a shot from the point with a five-on-three power play at 7:18 of the third period. McElroy and Ehgoetz handed out the assists. Cincinnati outshot Johnstown, 10-6, in the frame.

In the overtime, a hustle play by Dustin Sproat in the Johnstown end forced a turnover and caused Chiefs Hendrikx to take a hookig penalty. Nineteen seconds into the overtime, Van Guilder teed up a shot from the left circle and tallied his second score of the night and 25th of the campaign. Ehgoetz and McElroy once again handed out the helpers. It was the only shot of the overtime and for the game, Johnstown outshot the Cyclones, 25-19.

Ryan Nie won his 21st game of the season, stopping 22 shots. All-Star goaltender Kris Mayotte turned aside 15 shots in falling to 20-13-2 on the year. Five of the losses have come at the expense of Cincinnati.

With the victory, the Cyclones secured home ice advantage in the first round of the Kelly Cup playoffs. Cincinnati will host games one and two of the best of seven North Division semifinals against a yet-to-be-determine opponent. Those games will be played on Thursday, April 9 and Friday, April 10 at U.S. Bank Arena, 7:30pm each night. Games three, four and five, if needed, will be played at the lower seed's venue. Games six and seven, if needed, would be played at U.S. Bank Arena between April 18-22, depending on opponent.

Cincinnati, Elmira and Trenton are all tied with 85 points in the standings. Wheeling is fourth with 80 points and Johnstown sits fifth with 79 points. The top four teams advance to the Kelly Cup playoffs from the division. It is the closest divisional race in the 21 year history of the ECHL. Cincinnati can clinch the North Division regular season title with a win tomorrow night against Johnstown.

The Cyclones are now 40-26-5 on the season, while Johnstown is 37-29-5. The Cyclones host the Chiefs again tomorrow night (April 4) in the final regular season game for both teams. It is Fan Appreciaition Night with many discounted food and beverage items and giveaways throughout the evening.

With the crowd of 4594, the Cyclones are averaging 23.6 percent more fans than 2007-08 through 35 home games. That is the second-largest improvement from last year through 35 games of any professional hockey team in North America (Tulsa-CHL is up 28.9%). Last year, Cincinnati's season attendance improved 36.8 percent over 2006-07-the biggest increase in all of professional hockey. The Cyclones are averaging 2866 per game this season, having welcomed 100,333 fans.

Tickets for the 2009-10 Cincinnati Cyclones season are now on sale. The Cyclones Sales Department can be reached at 513-421-PUCK, extension 3. For the latest news, notes and information on the team, visit: www.cycloneshockey.com . Ask about the Family Four Pack (four tickets, four hot dogs, four Pepsis, four Cyclones winter hats, four public skate passes at SportsPlus and a SportsPlus game card) for just $69!

Check out the Cincinnati Cyclones Statistics

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from April 3, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Cincinnati Cyclones Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central