WHEELING, West Virginia – Rookie goaltender Zoltan Hetenyi turned aside all 31 shots he faced as he backstopped the Cincinnati Cyclones (10-4-2-0) to a 2-0 shutout win over the Wheeling Nailers (4-8-2-1) in front of 3,158 at WesBanco Arena on Saturday night. It was the first professional blanking for Hetenyi and the first time this year the Cyclones held their opponents off the scoreboard.
The game was a defensive stalemate through 40 minutes of play, as Zoltan Hetenyi (W, 31 saves, 2-4-0) and Scott Darling (L, 14 saves, 1-3-0) each kept their opponents off the scoreboard.
In the third, however, Cincinnati was able to cash in on an early power play; Jonathan Hazen batted a puck to the middle of the Nailers’ slot where Garrett Wilson was camping and tucked in his seventh goal of the season to break the scoreless deadlock at the 7:10 mark. On the other end of the ice, Hetenyi was a brick wall, turning aside several great Nailers chances to keep his team ahead by a goal. Then, with under a minute to play, the Nailers pulled Darling for an extra attacker; however, Wilson grabbed a loose puck at center and buried his second of the night into the empty net to make it a 2-0 Cyclones game. As the final seconds wound down, Hetenyi made another couple of his 31 saves on the night to earn his first ECHL shutout.
The Cyclones Radio Network Stars of the Game are as follows:
First Star: Zoltan Hetenyi (Winning goaltender, 31 save shutout)
Second Star: Scott Darling (Losing goaltender, 14 saves)
Third Star: Garrett Wilson (2 goals for Cincinnati)
