CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Kalamazoo Wings and Cincinnati Cyclones needed more than 60 minutes to settle Saturday night’s season-opening contest at U.S. Bank Arena, setting the stage for Jon Jutzi’s overtime winner which put the Wings on the right side of a 3-2 final.
Flying out of the gates in the first few minutes, Kalamazoo earned the night’s first lead with aggressive play from the blue line. Eric Kattelus joined the rush on the left wing and was on the receiving end of a great feed from Lane Scheidl, providing a wide open net for Kattelus to deposit his first of the season.
A little over eight minutes later, Kalamazoo doubled their advantage after an aggressive forecheck freed space in a scoring area. Justin Taylor and Tyler Biggs forced a turnover, which let Taylor spring the puck in front to Kyle Blaney, whose powerful wrist shot hit the pads of Cyclones’ goalie Anthony Peters and trickled over the line.
Before the end of the frame, the Cincinnati attack found their stride and sliced the Wings’ lead in half with a power play strike. A speedy step from Eric Knodel opened room for Justin Vaive to find an unmarked spot by the goal for a one-time finish.
After the teams went back and forth in the early goings of the second period, the Cyclones capitalized on an offensive-zone faceoff and tied the game at two. Brycen Martin walked the puck to the left-side circle and fired a wrist shot that went over the glove of Joel Martin and into the goal.
With no more scoring in the third period, the game headed to an overtime session tied at two goals.
After a flurry of Cincinnati chances required a series of saves by Martin, the Wings scooted up the ice on the counter attack with a minute remaining in the extra frame. Peter Schneider dished the puck to Josh Pitt, who showcased tremendous patience to wait for the opening on the back door. Pitt fed a backhand pass to Jutzi, who tapped in the game winner for his first goal in a Wings’ jersey.
With Kalamazoo Wings release
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