Cincinnati, OH – The Toledo Walleye took down the Cincinnati Cyclones by a score of 5-4 in the shootout at the Heritage Bank Center tonight. Brandon Hawkins had three points on the night with a goal and two assists, Sam Craggs scored twice, including the game-tying goal within the last two minutes of regulation, Reilly Funk scored, Tanner Dickinson recorded two assists, and Matt Jurusik made 25 saves in addition to stopping all three shootout shots he faced.

How it Happened:

Cincinnati got on the board first, with Max Smolinski scoring his second goal in the ECHL this season for the Cyclones at the 8:07 mark of the first. Toledo got the goal right back though, with Sam Craggs scoring his 11^th of the season just over 45 seconds later. Brandon Hawkins got an assist on the goal, and goaltender Matt Jurusik got his second assist of the season. 

Brandon Kruse took a high-sticking minor, putting Cincinnati on their first power play of the day at the 12:34 mark of the first. Toledo killed it off as the period concluded in a 1-1 tie. 

Jaxson Murray took a high-sticking minor 3:29 into the second, putting Toledo on their first power play of the day. Reilly Funk converted to take the lead for the Walleye, scoring his second goal of the season on the power play. Tanner Dickinson got an assist on the goal, and Brandon Hawkins recorded his second assist of the game.

Luke Grainger took the third high-sticking call between the two teams, putting Toledo on their second power play of the day at the 11:30 mark of the second. Brandon Hawkins scored on that power play, his 34^th goal of the season, at the 12:33 mark of the second. Riley McCourt got a power-play assist on the goal, tying the franchise single-season power-play assist record (28). Tanner Dickinson got the other assist on the goal. 

Cincinnati fired back with a goal from John Jaworski, his 15^th of the season cutting Toledo’s lead to 3-2 at the 14:45 mark of the second. Adam Kydd was called for a hooking penalty, and Brandon Kruse was called for embellishment in return at the 15:32 mark of the second, resulting in 4-on-4 play between the two teams. Liam Kidney scored to tie the game after the penalties had expired, tying the game at three goals each with 35 seconds to go in the third. 

Colin Swoyer took a delay of game penalty at the 4:24 mark of the third, putting Cincinnati on their second power play of the day. It lasted all of 44 seconds until Max Smolinski took an interference penalty. The teams played 1:14 at 4-on-4 before heading to a Toledo power play.  

With only a second to go on Toledo’s power play, Rhett Parsons took an interference call of his own to extend Toledo’s power play by 1:59. Cincinnati killed off the penalties, leaving Toledo 2-for-4 on power play opportunities in the game to that point. 

Cincinnati came back for the lead with their third consecutive goal, as Adam Kydd scored his fourth of the season to put the Cyclones up 4-3 over the Walleye. Toledo pulled Matt Jurusik with 2:00 to go, and it didn’t take long for the Walleye to tie the game. Sam Craggs scored his second of the night and his 12^th of the season from Jacob Truscott and Nick Andrews to make it a 4-4 hockey game with 1:48 to go. Regulation and overtime weren’t enough to decide this game, so the game was decided in a shootout.

• First Round
  • CIN: Ryan Kirwan – NO
  • TOL: Tanner Dickinson – NO
• Second Round:
  • CIN: Gabriel Bernier – NO
  • TOL: Garrett Van Wyhe – GOAL
• Third Round:
  • CIN: Gunnarwolfe Fontaine - NO

Three Stars:

1 – F Garrett Van Wyhe, TOL (Shootout GDG)

2 – F Brandon Hawkins, TOL (1 G, 2 A)

3 – F John Jaworski, CIN (1 G)

What’s Next:

The Walleye will head to Fort Wayne tomorrow for the first of two consecutive games against the Komets, two games that will likely decide the winner of the Central Division. Toledo currently holds a 4-2-1 record over the Komets, with the power play registering at 31.6% in the seven times they’ve played each other this season. Puck drop is set for 5:05 PM at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.