CINCINNATI, OH – The Cincinnati Cyclones (4-5-0-0) picked up a 4-1 win over the Quad City Mallards on Thursday night. Forward Andrew Yogan led the way with a pair of goals, while forwards Gabryel Boudreau and Shawn O’Donnell each chipped in one for the Cyclones.
Cincinnati came out firing in the opening period and took an early lead when an outlet pass from defenseman Eric Knodel found Boudreau at the left wing offensive blue line, and he skated in and snapped a shot past Quad City Mallards goaltender Adam Vay to give the Cyclones a 1-0 lead.
For the second consecutive game, Cincinnati’s power play got on the board as with a little less than five minutes remaining in the first, Yogan took a shot from the right wing blue line that was deflected but O’Donnell past Vay to put the Cyclones up 2-0.
Cincinnati took that 2-0 lead into the locker room, and in the second the Mallards cut their deficit in half 2:53 into the frame when forward Chris Francis lit the lamp on the power play to bring the Mallards to within a goal at 2-1.
Cincinnati’s power play stole the momentum back midway through the second, when O’Donnell sent a pass from the left corner to Yogan in the slot, and he rifled a wrister past Vay to put Cincinnati back up by two, 3-1, after 40 minutes.
The Cyclones continued to shut down Quad City’s offense in the third, and with 6:25 to go they put it out of reach when forward Kenny Ryan dropped a pass to Yogan in the right circle and he snapped it past Vey to send Cincinnati to a 4-1 lead.
Goaltender Mark Visentin was stellar, stopping 30 of the 31 shots he faced to preserve the 4-1 win. Cincinnati was outshot, 31-15 on the night, while the power play converted on 40 percent of their chances.
The Cyclones and Mallards wrap up their home-and-home series on Sunday afternoon at 5:05pm ET in the Quad Cities.
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