After the Wings took a 2-0 lead after the opening period on goals from forward David Pope and Boston Leier, Kalamazoo continued their offensive pressure in the second, outshooting the ‘Clones 12-4 in the frame. Cyclones goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen came up with some big saves in the middle frame to keep Cincinnati’s deficit at two goals, 2-0.
In the third, Cincinnati began their come-back 4:35 in when forward Jesse Schultz sent a pass from the right circle to Johnson who tipped the puck in to cut the Cyclones’ deficit to 2-1. The Cyclones continued their forward motion, and four minutes later evened the game when Bisson stretched to keep the puck in the offensive zone, and rifled a shot that deflected off the stick of Wings defenseman Zach Frye and in to tie the game, 2-2.
The 2-2 score held up throughout the remainder of regulation, and in overtime Cincinnati and Kalamazoo traded a few quality scoring chances early on, and at the 3:32 mark, Vail came down on a 2-on-1 rush and snapped in a shot from the right side past Kalamazoo goaltender Jake Kielly to send the Cyclones to a 3-2 overtime win.
The ‘Clones were outshot, 27-19 on the evening, with Luukonnen stopping 25 in the win. The Cyclones and Wings meet again on Friday night at Heritage Bank Center in Downtown Cincinnati. The Face-off is scheduled for 7:35pm ET.
With Cincinnati Cylcones release
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