CINCINNATI, Ohio – Kalamazoo’s Yann Sauve potted the game-winning goal just 38 seconds into overtime as the Kalamazoo Wings (19-19-3-1) defeated the Cincinnati Cyclones by a 3-2 final score in front of 9,249 at U.S. Bank Arena on Saturday night. It was the seventh-largest crowd in regular season club history.
After a scoreless first period, the Wings were first to put points on the board. Alexandre Mallet tipped in a rebound from Brian Bicek’s shot at the 12:49 mark of the middle period. Not even two minutes later, Dustin Cloutier grabbed a puck at center ice, raced into the offensive zone, and fired a wrist shot over the right shoulder of Cincinnati goaltender Brian Foster (OTL, 27 saves, 13-6-4) to extend the Kalamazoo lead to 2-0. The Cyclones would remain in a two-goal hole for the remainder of the second frame.
Cincinnati climbed back into the game by taking advantage of back-to-back power play opportunities. After Joe Charlebois was whistled for delay of game early in the third period, Anthony Luciani tapped in his own rebound to make the score 2-1. Captain Mathieu Aubin then tied the game at two goals apiece on a one-timer past Joel Martin (W, 25 saves, 17-16-3-1) after Cloutier was charged with crosschecking. And thanks to some solid defense by both teams the rest of regulation, the game was decided in overtime.
Just 38 seconds into the extra session, Yann Sauve picked up a loose puck after a blocked shot at the point and sent in the game-winning goal over Foster’s glove – giving the Wings a 3-2 victory.
