The Cincinnati Cyclones wasted a perfect opportunity to grab two important points in the standings on Monday afternoon, falling 6-5 in regulation to the visiting Kalamazoo Wings. After jumping out to a 4-1 lead midway through the second period, the Wings scored three unanswered goals to tie it 4-4 and then added two more after falling behind 5-4 to complete the comeback.
The loss drops Cincinnati to 16-14-3-0 on the season. The Cyclones sit fifth in the Central Division, four points behind Indy in the standings, and still hold two games in hand.
Cincinnati got goals from four different skaters. Landon Sim scored twice, while Sam Stevens, Luke Grainger, and Justin Vaive also scored. Ken Appleby stopped 34 of 40 shots.
Hunter Strand scored twice for the Wings, while Kishaun Gervais, Jayden Lee, Quinn Preston, and Zach Okabe each scored, with Okabe netting the game-winner. Jonathan Lemieux stopped 26 of 31 shots he faced.
Game Recap
Stevens opened the scoring for the Cyclones early in the first when he fought one home from the net-front to make it 1-0.
Off a rebound, Gervais evened it at 1-1, but Cincinnati responded quickly. Sim and Grainger both scored to make it 3-1 in favor of the Cyclones. Sim’s goal was his first as a pro.
Sim scored his second of the game to make it 4-1, but that lead slipped away as the Wings answered with three straight goals. Strand scored twice, and Lee added another to tie it 4-4 midway through the third period.
Cincinnati’s captain, Vaive, regained the lead at 5-4 in the final minutes of the third, but Preston tied it on the man advantage shortly after.
Okabe then stunned the Cincinnati crowd, scoring with less than three minutes remaining to take the lead. It stood as the game-winning goal.
Post-Game Comments
After the loss, head coach Riley Weselowski said the team’s issues started with their play away from the puck. He said, “Sloppy defense for sure. We let guys get behind us and took really undisciplined penalties. It was a poor combination of many things. It was not a period we’re very proud of.”
Weselowski added that the third-period breakdowns were made worse by the penalties and the struggles on the penalty kill. He said, “First off, we’re taking penalties. So we’re putting ourselves shorthanded, and then we’re not executing on the penalty kill. We weren’t pressuring when we should have been, but we were still getting pulled out of position even when there wasn’t pressure. Ultimately, it was many areas that we collapsed in during the third period. It’s something we’re going to have to take a good, hard look at as a coaching staff and see what areas we have to shore up.”
He did talk about Sim’s performance as a positive from this game. “He works extremely hard. He’s a hard worker, and it was good to see him get rewarded. He does a lot of little things you don’t always notice. He’s a first-year pro, like a lot of our guys, and they’re learning the pro game. But he was definitely a bright spot.”
The Cyclones are off until Friday night on the road in Bloomington, with puck drop at 8:00 PM ET. They return home the next day for the annual Teddy Bear Toss against the Fort Wayne Komets, with puck drop at 4:00 PM ET.
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