ELMIRA, NY – The Cincinnati Cyclones continued their post season road success and moved one step closer to the American Conference finals. While the Elmira Jackals scored the first and last goals of Game 3, the Cyclones scored the four goals in between to take a 4-2 victory and a commanding three games to none lead in their North Division final series.
For the ninth time in 10 playoff games, the Jackals would draw first blood with Chris Korchinski scoring his fifth goal of the playoffs eight minutes into the game. The Jackals would take this lead into the second period but would be unable to hold it. Goals from the Cyclones Brian O’Hanley, Kyle Rank and Matt Syroczynski gave Cincinnati a 3-1 lead through two periods. O’Hanley’s goal came shorthanded while Syroczynski tallied on the power play.
The Jackals had a bad night on the special teams. In addition to giving up the power play goal in the second, they also went scoreless in seven extra man attempts. And they would also give up a second shorthanded score when Barrett Ehgoetz scored with under seven minutes to play. With 3:55 to play, Elmira scored again courtesy of Mike Sgroi but they were not be able to get any closer and now face elimination on home-ice when Game 4 faces off on Friday night.
Shots in the game were even at 26 with the Cyclones Ryan Nie being the better goalie this evening, earning the game’s number one star. For Elmira, home ice will need to become magical for them if they want to avoid elimination. This will be a tough battle as Cincinnati has been perfect on the road in this post season (4-0) and are clearly on a mission to defend their Kelly Cup title from a year ago.
Contact the author at tom.hoffman@prohockeynews.com
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