Fish dash, dance past Cyclones in 5-2 win

TOLEDO – The Toledo Walleye defeated the Cincinnati Cyclones 5-2 on Saturday night at the Huntington Center.

What Happened:

The Toledo Walleye welcomed the Cincinnati Cyclones into the Huntington Center for Labatt Hockey Night in Toledo to celebrate a Peanuts Christmas.

Jan Bednar would defend the home net for the Walleye. Matt Anderson and Riley McCourt would staff the defence with Brandon Hawkins, Trenton Bliss and Mitchell Lewandowski leading the Toledo attack.

Talyn Boyko would be between the pipes for the Cyclones. Steven MacLean and former Fish Cole Fraser would fill the defence with Patrick Polino, Louie Caporusso and Justin Vaive would man the Cincinnati attack.

The action would begin with a Walleye power play at 4:30 when Lincoln Griffin was sent to the Cyclones penalty box for Slashing.

The man-advantage would extend to five-on-three at 5:56 when Sahil Panwar was sent to the box for Hooking.

The Cyclones would kill off the first power play successfully.

The Walleye would however convert the second power play at 6:47 when Hawkins found the net to put the Fish on top 1-0. McCourt and Brandon Kruse added assists on the icebreaker.

There would be four-on-four hockey at 11:24 after Alexandre Doucet and Fraser exchanged Roughing minors. Both penalties would be killed off.

The Walleye would get their next power play chance at 13:48 when Josh Burnside was sent to the penalty box for High-Sticking. The Cyclones successfully killed off the power play.

Toledo would extend the lead to 2-0 at 16:58 when Conlan Keenan found the back of the net. Chase Gresock and Adrien Beraldo tallied assists on the score.

That would wrap the first frame of action with Toledo leading Cincinnati 2-0.

The Walleye outshot the Cyclones 13-12 in the period. Toledo was 1/3 on the power play in the period, while Cincinnati did not have an opportunity.

The Cyclones would start the second period with a goal by Nick Isaacson at 2:33 with Ole Julian Bjorgvik-Holm getting a solo assist.

The Fish would put the lead right back at two goals when Sam Craggs put one past Boyko to make it 3-1 Walleye at 3:48. Kruse and Keenan were the helping-hands on the score.

Toledo would tack on another at 7:25 when Alexander Doucet found paydirt. Riley Sawchuk and Kirill Tyutyayev added assists to the score.

The Walleye would get their next man-advantage at 9:18 when Bjorgvik-Holm was assessed a double minor for High-Sticking, giving the Walleye and four-minute power play.

The Walleye would convert the power play at 10:02 when Lewandowski buried the puck into the net. Hawkins and McCourt did the dishes on the tally.

The Cyclones would get their first power play of the game at 10:58 when Sawchuk was sent to the Toledo penalty box for Tripping. The Walleye would successfully kill off the power play.

Cincinnati would get another power play chance at 13:37 when Sawchuk would again be sent away for Tripping. Toledo would again fend off the penalty.

The Walleye would get their next power play chance at 17:51 when Lee Lapid was sent to the Cyclones penalty box for Tripping.

More action would happen during the power play as Lewandowski was sent to the Toledo penalty box at 18:42 for Tripping, while Cristiano DiGiacinto was assessed a Roughing minor and Jalen Smereck was assessed a ten-minute Misconduct for Inciting.

The Cyclones would kill off the penalty successfully.

That would close the second frame with the Walleye leading the Cyclones 5-1.

The Walleye were outshot 10-11 in the period, but cumulatively outshot the Cyclones 23-22. Toledo was 1/2 on the power play in the period while Cincinnati was 0/2 in the period.

The third period action would begin with a Walleye power play. DiGiancinto was assessed a Double Minor for Roughing at 3:10 while McCourt was given a two-minute minor for Unsportsmanlike Conduct. The Cyclones would kill off the power play after a potential goal by Doucet was waved off.

The next action was at 5:50 when Zack Andrusiak was assessed a Game Misconduct for Inciting.

Cincinnati would put one on the board at 14:27 when Panwar sniped one into the twine to make it 5-2 Walleye. Griffin and Reece Harsch tallied assists on the score.

Fraser was assessed a Roughing minor at the buzzer.

The buzzers would sound signaling a 5-2 Walleye win over the Cyclones.

The Walleye outshot the Cyclones in the period 11-6 and 34-28 overall. Toledo was 0/2 in the period and 2/7 overall on the power play, while Cincinnati did not have an opportunity in the period and was 0/2 overall.

Three Stars Sponsored by Local 245:

1. Brandon Hawkins (1G, 1A) – TOL
2. Conlan Keenan (1G, 1A) – TOL
3. Riley McCourt (2A) – TOL

What’s Next:

The Toledo Walleye will remain home for another matchup with the Cincinnati Cyclones on Wednesday, December 27, 2023, at the Huntington Center with puck drop coming at 7:15 pm ET.