Hawkins' 250th professional point highlights big night for the Fish

TOLEDO – The Toledo Walleye defeated the Cincinnati Cyclones 6-4 on Friday night at the Huntington Center.

What Happened:

The Toledo Walleye welcomed the Cincinnati Cyclones into the Huntington Center to begin a home-and-home weekend set between the two teams.

Jan Bednar would defend the home net for the Walleye with Riley McCourt and Antti Tuomisto on the defence. Brandon Hawkins, Trenton Bliss and Orrin Centazzo would lead the Toledo attack.

Talyn Boyko would start between the pipes for the Cyclones with Matthew Cairns and Josh Burnside on the defence. Zack Andrusiak, Louie Caporusso and Justin Vaive would staff the Cincinnati attack.

Conlan Keenan would sent the teddy bears flying right away as he found the net at 1:11 to put the Fish ahead 1-0. Sam Craggs and Kirill Tyutyayev were the helping-hands to send the teddy bears onto the ice.

The Cylcones would knot the game at 1-1 when Andrusiak bounced a shot off of the back of Bednar and in at 18:13. Vaive and Caporusso got the assists on the equalizer.

The Fish would get the first power play of the game at 19:20 when Luka Burzan was sent to the Cyclone penalty box for Roughing.

The power play would carry over into the second period.

That would wrap the action in the first frame with the Walleye and Cyclones tied 1-1. The Walleye outshot the Cyclones in the period 16-7. Neither team completed a power play in the period.

Cincinnati would successfully kill off the power play to begin the period.

The Cyclones would take a 2-1 lead at 1:55 when Burzan would find the net. Patrick Polino and Lee Lapid would net the assists on the score.

Cincinnati would get their first power play chance of the game at 6:47 when Adrien Beraldo was sent to the Toledo box for Hooking.

The Cyclones would convert the power play at 6:58 to make it 3-1 when Polino lifted the puck past Bednar. Vaive and Andrusiak tallied the assists. All three players collected their second point of the night on the score.

The Walleye would get their next power play chance when Burnside was sent to the Cincinnati box for High-Sticking at 8:11.

The Cyclones would kill off the man-advantage.

The Walleye would bring it back within one at 3-2 when Keenan found the net a second time at 11:33. McCourt and Craggs did the dishes for the score.

After a brief brawl between Cullen and Caporusso at 12:42, they would head to their respective penalty boxes with five-minute majors for Fighting.

The Fish would get their third man-advantage at 13:22 when Ole Julian Bjorgvik-Holm was sent to the Cyclones box for Hooking.

The Cyclones would also have a goalie change as Julian Sime would enter the game in relief of Boyko.

Hawkins would convert the power play to tie the game back up at 3-3 at 5:11 as he sniped one past Sime. Tuomisto and Craggs would net the assists. Craggs’ assist netted him his third of the game.

That would wrap the second frame with the Walleye and Cyclones tied 3-3. The Walleye outshot the Cyclones 14-12 in the period and 30-19 cumulatively. Toledo was 1/3 on the power play in the period while Cincinnati was 1/1.

The third period action would begin with a Cincinnati power play at 2:09 when McCourt was sent to the box for Closing Hand on Puck.

Cincinnati would convert the power play at 2:46 when Vaive would find the net from Smereck and Polino to put Cincinnati on top 4-3. The score would give Vaive and Polino each their third points.

After the goal, Smereck would be sent to the Cincinnati box for Unsportsmanlike Conduct, while Toledo would be assessed Delay of Game which would be served by Carson Denomie.

Immediately following, Cullen would be assessed an Interference minor at 2:51, meaning 1:55 of four-on-three hockey.

All penalties were successfully killed off in the chaos.

Toledo would get their fourth man-advantage at 6:39 when Andrusiak was sent to the Cincinnati box for Roughing.

The Walleye would convert the power play at 7:00 when Hawkins lit the lamp for his 250^th professional point, tying the game at 4-4. Centazzo and Bliss would tally the assists on the equalizer.

The Cyclones would get their next man-advantage at 8:06 when Beraldo was assessed a Slashing minor.

The Walleye would successfully kill off the power play.

The Fish would get yet another power play chance at 12:31 when Sahil Panwar was sent to the Cyclones box for Hooking.

Toledo would convert the power play again, this time with Brandon Kruse finding the net on the backside. Centazzo and Bliss would assist their second straight goal of the evening.

The Walleye would open it up to 6-4 at 18:58 when Tuomisto found an empty net with a goalie assist from Bednar.

That would seal a 6-4 Toledo Walleye win over the Cincinnati Cyclones.

The Walleye outshot the Cyclones 13-9 in the period and 43-28 overall. Toledo was 2/2 on the power play in the period and 3/5 overall, while Cincinnati was 1/1 on the power play in the period and 2/4 overall.

Three Stars Sponsored by Local 245:

1. Conlan Keenan (2G) – TOL
2. Brandon Hawkins (2G, 250^th Pro Point) – TOL
3. Justin Vaive (1G, 2A) – CIN

What’s Next:

The Toledo Walleye will head to Cincinnati for a rematch with the Cyclones tomorrow, Saturday, December 9, 2023 at the Heritage Bank Center with puck drop coming at 7:35 pm ET.