ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones

Cyclones Game Preview - Cincinnati at South Carolina

Published on March 11, 2012 under ECHL (ECHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones News Release


CINCINNATI CYCLONES (29-22-2-7)

vs.

SOUTH CAROLINA STINGRAYS (33-24-4-2)

DATE: Sunday, March 11, 2012

TIME: 4:05pm ET

SITE: North Charleston Coliseum - North Charleston, SC

RADIO: Cyclones Radio Network (1160-AM)

WEBCAST: CyclonesHockey.com (America One)

NHL AFFILIATES

Cincinnati Cyclones: Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators

South Carolina Stingrays: Washington Capitals

NEXT HOME GAME

Wednesday, March 21 - 7:30pm vs. Chicago Express

Wet Wednesday / Pucks N Pinot / Singles Night - Fans 21+ can enjoy $1 PBR and Miller High Life / Pre-game wine tasting / Singles Mixer

TODAY'S MATCHUP: After being shutout last night in Gwinnett, the Cyclones are in Charletston this afternoon to battle the South Carolina Stingrays in another crucial battle for Eastern Conference playoff position. Cincinnati sits just five points back of the sixth-seeded Rays and are currently tied with Florida for the seventh place spot. Since 2006, the Clones have had great success at North Charleston Coliseum - amassing an 8-3-2 record. Overall, Cincinnati leads the All-Time Series by a count of 31-16-5-4.

SCOUTING THE STINGRAYS: Spencer Carbery's team fell to Greenville in a shootout last night and have now posted a 4-3-2-1 record in their last ten games. Despite the recent skid, the Rays own the Eastern Conference's top defense - allowing a total of 153 goals this season (an average of 2.43 per game). An integral part of their stinginess has been their goaltending; Philip Grubauer has the second-best goals-against average of any active backstop in the league (2.25 GAA), the fifth-best save percentage (.917), and the second most wins (22). On offense, South Carolina is led by a pair of weapons - Trent Campbell and Pierre-Luc O'Brien; Campbell has posted 47 points in 59 games while O'Brien has added 45 tallies in 62 contests. Defenseman Johan Kroll, who ranks 9th among ECHL rear guards in points, is the leader against Cincinnati this season; in the pair of meetings at U.S. Bank Arena earlier this year, Kroll has notched a goal and three assists.

About Last Night in Gwinnett: Behind 30 saves from goaltender Ryan Zapolski, the Gladiators shutout the Cyclones by a 2-0 final score in front of 7,829 at Gwinnett Center. It was just the third time this season that Cincinnati was blanked. Cyclones goalie Chet Pickard turned aside 25 saves in a losing effort.

Eastern Conference Playoff Race: The top eight teams at season's end earn a Kelly Cup Playoff bid.

TEAM -- RECORD -- POINTS

1. Gwinnett* -- 35-17-7-4 -- 81

2. Elmira* -- 38-21-2-2 -- 80

3. Kalamazoo* -- 33-22-2-5 -- 73

4. Greenville -- 38-21-2-2 -- 80

5. Wheeling -- 34-21-3-3 -- 74

6. South Carolina -- 33-24-4-2 -- 72

7. CYCLONES -- 29-22-2-7 -- 67

8. Florida -- 30-24-2-5 -- 67

---------------------------------------

9. Reading -- 29-26-3-4 -- 65

10. Chicago -- 27-24-6-4 -- 64

11. Toledo -- 26-29-2-4 -- 58

12. Trenton -- 19-35-3-5 -- 46

The New Guy: Last night, the Cyclones welcomed in a new forward - Matt Carter. The rookie recently finished a four-year career at University of Prince Edward Island, where he posted 128 points in 97 games. He was among the top five leading scorers on his team in each of his collegiate campaigns.

Killing Spree: The Cyclones have been nearly automatic with the penalty kill unit of late. They have successfully extinguished 27 of their last 30 power plays against. On the season, Cincinnati ranks fourth in the ECHL with an 84.6% kill-rate (209-for-247). Against the Stingrays this year, the Clones have killed off 8-of-10 man-advantages against.

SEASON SERIES (4 Meetings - 2 Remaining)

Feb. 3 South Carolina 3 at Cincinnati 4 Final

Feb. 4 South Carolina 2 at Cincinnati 3 Final

Mar. 11 Cincinnati at South Carolina 4:00 pm EDT

Mar. 17 Cincinnati at South Carolina 7:05 pm EDT

Check out the Cincinnati Cyclones Statistics

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