HOFFMAN ESTATES, Illinois – The Chicago Express (19-17-5-2) erased a two-goal deficit and rallied to beat the Cincinnati Cyclones (18-14-0-6) in a shootout by a 3-2 final score in front of 2,131 at Sears Centre on Sunday night.
The Cyclones opened the scoring at the 8:26 mark when Mike Pelech dangled past Chicago goaltender Peter Mannino (W, 26 saves, 3-3-1-1) and buried his 10th goal of the season. Then, just before the intermission, Jonathan Hazen fed Matt Sisca in the slot who potted an insurance goal at 18:56 to give Cincinnati a 2-0 edge after 20 minutes of play.
Chicago pulled within a goal in the second period when Darcy Campbell came away with a loose puck in the slot after a mad scramble and backhanded a shot over Cincinnati net minder Brian Foster (SOL, 29 saves, 8-1-0-1) at the 11:52 mark. Campbell’s third lamplighter of the season made it 2-1 Cincinnati at the second intermission.
In a relatively penalty-free game, Chris Cahill was whistled for a hooking penalty at 10:51 of the third period, giving the Chicago power play their third chance to work. Chaz Johnson skated with the puck over the Cincinnati blue line and sent a wrist shot past Foster for the game-tying tally at 12:42, knotting things at two and sent the game into overtime.
Unlike on Wednesday, neither team was able to find the game-winner in the five-minute extra session, so a shootout was necessary to determine a winner. In the opening round, Pierre-Luc Faubert beat Foster with a low snap-shot to push Chicago ahead and it turned out to be the game-winner as none of the four Cyclones shooters could beat Mannino. In round five, Maxime Gratchev sealed the come-from-behind victory with a goal, giving the Express a 3-2 shootout win.
The Cyclones Radio Network Three Stars of the Game are as follows:
First Star: Pierre Luc Faubert (Game-winning goal in the shootout)
Second Star: Darcy Campbell (1 goal for Chicago)
Third Star: Kyle Ostrow (2 assists for Chicago)
The Cyclones will return to U.S. Bank Arena on Wednesday, February 1 as they welcome in the Toledo Walleye at 7:30pm.
