Cincinnati, OH – The Toledo Walleye fell tonight to the Cincinnati Cyclones by a score of 4-0 at the Heritage Bank Center. Toledo’s record falls to 28-13-4-4 (64 pts) with the loss as Cincinnati improves to 23-23-3-0 (49 pts). 

How it Happened:

Cincinnati opened up the scoring a little over halfway through the first period as Gabriel Bernier scored his first goal in the ECHL this season in his professional game, signing out of Ontario Tech University at the beginning of the week. Toledo got the game’s first chance at the power play though as Bernier was called for a high-stick at the 14:02 mark of the first. Entering today’s game, Toledo’s power play sits at 43.8% (14-for-32) against the Cyclones, but did not convert on this opportunity.

Luke Grainger added onto Cincinnati’s lead with his 12^th goal of the season 8:46 into the second period, negating a delayed tripping penalty that Toledo would’ve taken at the next stoppage of play and putting the Cyclones up 2-0. Marko Sikic added a third goal just under a minute later, his fifth goal of the season putting Cincinnati up 3-0 just under halfway through regulation. Blake Tosto scored in his first game with the Cyclones after signing an SPC earlier today, putting the Cyclones up 4-0 at the 13:37 mark of the second. 

Toledo thought they got on the board as it seemed like Conlan Keenan had scored off a rebound with 1:18 to go in the third, but it was waived off for goaltender interference after a review. Mitch Lewandowski took a slashing penalty 20 seconds later, putting Cincinnati on their first power play chance of the night. 1:11 of the power play carried over into the third period as Cincinnati maintained their 4-0 lead. 

Toledo got their second chance at the power play as Ryan Kirwan took a high-sticking minor at the 9:17 mark of the third, giving the Walleye a much-needed opportunity to score. The Cyclones killed the penalty off for their second kill of the night. 

The 4-0 score held final, although the Walleye outshot the Cyclones by a 33-26 count. Toledo didn’t convert on either of their power play opportunities, but killed off the only penalty they took on the day. 

Three Stars:

1 – G Ken Appleby, CIN (33 SV, SO)

2 – F Gabriel Bernier, CIN (GWG)

3 – F Luke Grainger, CIN (1 G)

What’s Next:

The Walleye will return home on Friday for the first time in two weeks to face off against the Bloomington Bison in the first of a two-game series. Toledo will look to improve on their 2-2-1-0 record over Bloomington over the weekend as they continue their chase to clinch a playoff spot. Puck drop for Friday’s game is set for 7:15 PM at the Huntington Center.