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ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones

Walleye Sink Cyclones in Shootout, 5-4

March 8, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones News Release


CINCINNATI, Ohio - Matt Abercrombie scored the game-winning shootout goal as the Toledo Walleye (18-34-3-1) squeaked past the Cyclones (32-20-2-4) by a 5-4 final score in front of 6,666 at U.S. Bank Arena on Saturday night. After dropping the first of back-to-back games against Toledo last night, the Cyclones hoped for a reversal of fate tonight, but net minder Hannu Toivonen (W, 37 saves, 9-8-0-0) stood strong for his team, turning aside 37 of the 41 shots he faced in regulation and stopping six of seven attempts in the shootout. Josh Birkholz scored twice in the defeat, helping his team earn another valuable point in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Cyclones wasted little time before finding the back of the net as Birkholz backhanded a rebound, his seventh of the season, past Toivonen just 33 seconds into the tilt. Shortly thereafter, Toledo scored the equalizer when a wrist shot from Kevin Lynch surprised Joe Howe (L, 24 saves, 10-3-2-2) at 6:06. After successfully killing a penalty, the Cyclones entered the first intermission deadlocked with the Walleye, despite being outshot 11-7 in the frame.

The home team regained the lead early in the second stanza when Josh McFadden recorded his eighth of the season at 2:15. However, when Dan Eves was called for holding, the Walleye capitalized on the power play opportunity as Lynch scored his second of the night at 4:50. The Cyclones looked to return the favor when Brett Perlini was called for hooking, but a costly turnover in the offensive zone led to a breakaway and a shorthanded goal by David Gilbert at 7:13.

Trailing by one, Cincinnati was given an opportunity to even the score when Jonathan Hazen was hauled down on a breakaway, but the ensuing penalty shot missed to the right. Minutes later, the Walleye extended their lead when Jesse Messier scored the game-winning tally, his first of the season, at 14:33 and looked to put the game away when Mike Dalhuisen was assessed a double minor for high-sticking. Not only did the Cyclones kill the penalty, but Birkholz stole the puck and converted his second of the night, a shorthanded beauty, at 17:28.

"It was a good play by our [defenseman] to get it up and out of the zone," said Birkholz. "I noticed that their forward was coming down to try to send it back down. I just raced him for it and poked it around him and the rest is history."

The home team entered the final frame with momentum on their side, but after trading power play opportunities, the score remained 4-3. The Cyclones had several fantastic scoring chances late in the third, but were unable to convert until Hazen streaked down the ice and tied the game with his 20th lamplighter of the season at 17:43. The score held for the remainder of regulation and the teams headed to overtime for the second consecutive night.

After a scoreless bonus session, the Cyclones headed to a shootout for the fourth time in six games. When Paul Crowder converted his attempt, Maxim Shalunov answered with a goal of his own. The shootout continued into the seventh round before Abercrombie finally scored the game-winner.

"It's good that we're coming back in some of these games and showing a lot of resiliency and battling our way back and getting one point," said Birkholz. "But it has to come to a point here where we get two points out of these games or else it's going to affect us big time going down the road."

"It was an okay weekend," he added. "There was a lot of stuff that we did well and stuff that we can learn from. We'll just go through video this week and try to have short memories and build off the good things we did and go out there and try to get four points this weekend."

After a week of practice, the Cyclones will embark on a two-game Atlantic Division road trip beginning Friday night against Elmira. Fans can hear all the action on the Cyclones Radio Network (CyclonesHockey.com, America One, Cyclones Mobile App) beginning at 6:35pm followed by a 7:05pm opening face-off.

The Cyclones will return to U.S. Bank Arena on Friday, March 21 when they welcome in the Elmira Jackals at 7:30pm! The first 3,000 fans through the gates will receive a limited edition Cyclones hat! Call 513.421.PUCK or visit CyclonesHockey.com to secure your seats. Fans can also get the latest team updates throughout the season on Facebook and Twitter (@CincyCyclones).

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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.

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