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 4^th 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 7^th 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 4^th power play of the day, which was killed off by the Cyclones.

Brandon Hawkins scored his 16^th 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 2^nd 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 11^th 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 4^th 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.