Cincinnati, OH – The Toledo Walleye dropped this morning’s game by a score of 5-4 in overtime after tying the game with four minutes to go. Denis Smirnov had two goals (including his third power-play goal), Nolan Moyle had two points on the day and scored his third short-handed goal, and Nick Andrews and Will Hillman each got their third short-handed assists.
How it Happened:
Cincinnati got the first chance at a power play in today’s game as Toledo took a tripping call at the 12:48 mark of the first. Toledo got a short-handed scoring opportunity, didn’t score, but killed off the penalty. However, the Cyclones scored shortly after the penalty expired (at 14:54) to get them on the board first.
The Walleye fired back with 42 seconds left in the first period, as Denis Smirnov scored his fourth goal of the year to tie the game 1-1. Jacob Truscott and Nolan Moyle each earned assists on the goal (Truscott’s third assist in the last two games). Toledo led Cincinnati in shots 8-5 at the end of the first period.
Cincinnati’s Lincoln Griffin scored his second goal of the game to put the Cyclones up 2-1 a little over a minute into the second period. Cincinnati tacked on a third goal at the 3:34 mark of the second period, the first time they’ve led Toledo by 2 goals this season. Toledo came right back though, as Colby Ambrosio scored his third goal of the season to make it a 3-2 game a minute later. Dylan Moulton got the lone assist on the goal.
Toledo got their first shot at the power play thanks to a hooking call on Cincinnati after some sustained pressure in their offensive zone. Toledo got five shots on goal in that power-play but was not able to convert.
Toledo went back to the power-play as Cincinnati was called for a hooking penalty at the 14:32 mark of the second period. However, Toledo took a penalty of their own 42 seconds into the power-play, setting up 1:18 of 4-on-4 hockey.
Just as Cincinnati’s penalty expired, Toledo recorded their 8th short-handed goal of the year to tie the game. Nolan Moyle got credit for the goal, his fifth of the year and his third short-handed goal of the season at the 16:42 mark of the second period. With that goal, Moyle and Will Hillman became the second pair of teammates to record 3 or more short-handed goals in Walleye history (Lewandowski and Craggs had three each in 2023-24). Nick Andrews recorded his 8th assist of the year (tying the league lead in short-handed assists with three), and Will Hillman recorded his league-leading 6th short-handed point.
Cincinnati followed up almost immediately with a power-play goal of their own to re-take the 4-3 lead. The second period came to an end as Toledo outshot Cincinnati 11-6 in the period and 19-11 in the game but trailed on the scoreboard.
The score sheet was clean in the third period until Cincinnati took a crucial tripping penalty with 6:38 to go in the game, setting up a Toledo power play as they trailed by one. Before the first penalty could expire, Cincinnati took another tripping penalty, setting up a Toledo 5-on-3 advantage for 8 seconds and extending their overall power-play. Toledo took advantage of that and tied the game with 4:14 remaining. Denis Smirnov shot it over the shoulder of Ken Appleby in the slot for his second goal of the game and 5th of the season, assisted by Brandon Hawkins and Riley McCourt.
The power-play goal was enough to force overtime for the first time this season for the Walleye, tied at 4 each. Toledo outshot Cincinnati 9-6 in the third, ending regulation with a 28-17 lead in shots.
Toledo got control of the puck first in overtime, and maintained control for the first 45 seconds until Appleby froze the puck in front of the Cincinnati net. Cincinnati won the faceoff in their own end and forced a breakaway, but their shot was saved and frozen by Nolan Lalonde. Toledo won the following faceoff and re-gained control of the puck, as they worked their way into the offensive zone. Cincinnati recovered the rebound of a shot by Denis Smirnov and took the puck up the ice and kept control of the puck.
Toledo poke-checked one of Cincinnati’s attempts to advance in their zone and took the puck into their offensive end, but both of their shots on Appleby were stopped. The Cyclones won the faceoff, slowly advancing into their own end to fire a shot at Lalonde, which was saved and frozen. Toledo won the faceoff, taking it all the way up the ice but giving it up in Cincinnati’s end.
Cincinnati kept control of the puck with 3:30 to go in the extra period but could not get any good scoring chances. After some puck battles, Cincinnati recovered the puck and scored with 1:50 to go in overtime, as Luke Grainger buried the game-winning goal for the Cyclones.
Each team had four shots in overtime, giving Toledo the 32-21 shot advantage through the whole game. Toledo’s power play was 1-for-4, and the penalty kill went 1-for-2.
Three Stars:
1 – F Lincoln Griffin, CIN (2 G)
2 – F Luke Grainger, CIN (GWG)
3 – F Denis Smirnov, TOL (2 G)