CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Cincinnati Cyclones (37-17-4-2) extended their current winning streak to six games, a season high, as they defeated the Kalamazoo Wings (28-25-4-1) by a final score of 4-1 in front of 7,241 at U.S. Bank Arena on Saturday night. Cincinnati has won 11 of its past 12 games and remains in a tie for first place in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Wings struck first when Yann Sauve knocked a rebound from a John Armstrong shot past the pads of Cyclones goaltender Michael Houser (W, 29 saves, 13-5-0) at the 10:37 mark of the opening stanza. Cincinnati answered back with 4:08 left in the first as Mathieu Aubin rushed down the ice and sent a pass across the middle that ricocheted off of Dan Eves and past Joe Cannata (L, 33 saves, 3-4-0) to make it a 1-1 game. Neither team would find a way to score again before the horn sounded for the first intermission.
After a scoreless second period, the Cyclones took their first lead of the night 2:42 into the final frame on a power play opportunity after Mitch Versteeg was whistled for tripping. Charles-Olivier Roussel blasted a one-timer from the point and the rebound went to Mike Pelech directly in front of the Kalamazoo net. Pelech swung to his left and lifted a shot over the pad of Cannata to make the score 2-1 in favor of the home team. In the final 2:20, Cincinnati added a short-handed goal by David Pacan and an empty net strike by David MacDonald to seal the 4-1 victory. It was the first time in more than a year that Cincinnati won six straight games.
