CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Cincinnati Cyclones (32-21-3-3) fell to the Quad City Mallards, 3-2, on Saturday night in front of 8,746 at U.S. Bank Arena. Forwards Tommy Mele and Peter Quenneville scored the goals for the Cyclones.
The Mallards wasted little time finding the back of the net in this one, receiving a power play marker 46 seconds into the opening period from forward Olivier Archambault, and an even strength tally from Sam Warning at 3:06 to give Quad City a 2-0 lead early in the first. Warning tallied his second of the period with less than three minutes left in the frame to extend Quad City’s lead to 3-0 after 20 minutes.
The Cyclones turned up the offensive pressure in the second period and cut their deficit to two goals with roughly five minutes left, as forward Colin Mulvey flew by the Mallards defense on the right-wing wall and sent a pass to Mele in the high slot, and he wristed a shot past Quad City goaltender P.J. Musico, trimming the Mallards’ advantage to 3-1 after two periods.
Cincinnati pulled to within a goal early in the third period, when defenseman Garrett Noonan sent a pass from the right circle to Quenneville at the bottom of the left circle, and he blasted a one-timer past Musico, cutting the Cyclones’ deficit to 3-2.
The Cyclones continued to pepper the Quad City net with shots throughout the remainder of the third period, outshooting the Mallards, 14-6, in the final frame.
Cincinnati pulled the goalie with less than a minute left, and then received a power play to take a 6-on-4 advantage. The Cyclones got a couple of quality scoring chances in the final minute, but were not able to find the back of the net, and the Mallards held on for the 3-2 win.
Cincinnati outshot Quad City, 30-26, on the night, with goaltender Brad Thiessen turning aside 23 in the loss.
With Cincinnati Cyclones release
Contact the photographer: Rob.Huelsman@prohockeynews.com
