INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Cincinnati Cyclones (31-20-3-3) earned a 5-1 win over the Indy Fuel on Saturday night. Forwards Nick Huard, Christiaan Minella, Zach Budish, Seth Ambroz, and Jack Downing scored the goals for the Cyclones, who push their point streak to eight games.
For the second game in a row the Cyclones drew first blood, as with 4:30 remaining in the opening frame while on the power play, defenseman Brett Wysopal took a shot from the high slot that deflected off of Huard and into the net, giving Cincinnati a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes.
Cincinnati continued their forward motion in the second, when Minella brought the puck over the offensive blue line and launched a shot off the crossbar and into the net, extending the Cyclones’ lead to 2-0.
Just 10 seconds later the Cyclones struck again, when Downing dropped a pass from below the goal line to Budish, and he buried a shot past Indy goaltender Mac Carruth, pushing Cincinnati’s edge to 3-0 after two periods.
Cincinnati pushed their lead to 4-0 midway through the third period when Indy pulled the goalie while on the power play, and Ambroz took possession of the puck in the defensive zone and fired the puck down the ice and into the open net.
The Cyclones’ shorthanded success continued later in the third when forward Tommy Mele came down the ice on a 2-on-1 rush and toe-dragged the puck around a defender and slid a pass to Downing who tapped it into the net, elevating Cincinnati to a 5-0 lead.
The Fuel broke up the shutout with less than five minutes left when defenseman Sam Jardine found the back of the net to cut Cincinnati’s lead to 5-1, but that was all the offense Indy was able to muster, and the Cyclones skated off to a 5-1 win.
It was another stellar outing for Cyclones goaltender Andy Iles, who turned aside 30 of the 31 shots he faced to collect the win. Cincinnati returns home next Friday night for a meeting with the Quad City Mallards. Faceoff is set for 7:35pm ET.
With Cincinnati Cyclones release
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