MOLINE, IL – The Cincinnati Cyclones (16-9-1-0) collected a 7-4 win over the Quad City Mallards on Friday night. Forward Justin Vaive led the way with a first period hat trick, while forwards Winston Day Chief, Rob De Fulviis, Justin Danforth and Jesse Schultz added lone tallies for the Cyclones.
The Cyclones found success on the power play early while on a 5-on-3 advantage, when Vaive tapped the puck in off a shot from defenseman Eric Knodel to give Cincinnati a 1-0 lead.
That lead became 2-0 just 14 seconds later with Cincinnati still on the man advantage, when Day Chief went to the front of the net and slammed the puck in after a shot from forward Daniel Muzito-Bagenda, for his fifth goal in the last four games.
After the Mallards cut the Cyclones’ lead in half at 2-1 on a goal from forward Josh MacDonald, the Cyclones regained their two-goal lead when forward Justin Danforth won the faceoff in the left circle to Vaive, and he blasted a one-timer in to give Cincinnati a 3-1 edge 11:29 into the first.
Vaive capped off the first period hat trick just 34 seconds later when he took a pass from Schultz and snapped a shot off the crossbar and in to give the Cyclones a 4-1 lead after 20 minutes.
Cincinnati wasted no time continuing their forward motion in the second, as just 22 seconds in while shorthanded, De Fulviis stole the puck in the neutral zone, skated in on a breakaway, and snapped a shot in past Quad City goaltender Matt O’Connor to push the Cyclones to a 5-1 edge.
The Mallards managed to get one back just past the midway point of the frame when MacDonald lit the lamp for the second time to cut the Quad City deficit to 5-2.
The Cyclones took their 5-2 lead into the locker room after the second, and in the third Quad City mounted a comeback, getting a pair from forward Chris Francis and defenseman Kenney Morrison to pull to within a goal, 5-4.
Cincinnati was not deterred and got their second shorthanded tally of the night when Danforth chased an errant puck down the left side, cut towards the net, and tucked it in to push the Cyclones lead back to two at 6-4.
The Cyclones capped off their night at the 16:04 mark when a shot from forward Shawn O’Donnell found Schultz and he tapped it in on the back door to secure Cincinnati’s 7-4 win.
The Cyclones were outshot, 38-32 on the night, with goaltender Anthony Peters stopping 34 in the win. Cincinnati next heads to Indianapolis to take on the Indy Fuel on Saturday night. Face-off is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. ET.
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