MOLINE, Ill. – The Cincinnati Cyclones (36-27-5-4) collected a 4-3 win over the Quad City Mallards on Saturday night, in the 2015-16 regular season finale. Forwards Jack Downing and Zach Budish, along with defensemen Jonathan Diaby and Garrett Noonan chipped in the goals for the Cyclones, who lock up the seventh seed in the Western Conference for the 2016 Kelly Cup Playoffs.
The offense came early and often in this one for the Cyclones, as just 5:50 into the opening period, forwardAndrew Yogan threw the puck on net after a wrap-around attempt, and Downing crashed the net and stuffed in the rebound to put Cincinnati ahead, 1-0.
A little over three minutes later Cincinnati lit the lamp once more, as Noonan sent a pass to Diaby in the left wing circle, and he launched home the one-timer to lift the Cyclones to a 2-0 lead.
The Cyclones were not done, and with less than two minutes left in the opening period the power play got into the mix, when Noonan took a pass from Yogan, skated into the high slot, and fired a slapshot into the back of the net to give Cincinnati a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes.
The Mallards turned up the offense in the second and cut Cincinnati’s lead to 3-1 when forward Jordan Knackstedt found the back of the net 2:53 into the frame.
Cincinnati got that one right back 37 seconds later when Budish stole a pass from Quad City’s Alex Gudbranson in the offensive zone and sniped a wrister past Mallards goaltender PJ Musico to extend the Cyclones’ lead back to three goals, 4-1.
Quad City continued to pressure Cincinnati offensively throughout the remainder of the second, receiving markers from forwards Trevor Cox and Matt Carey to cut their deficit to 4-3 after two periods.
The physical play continued in the third, and both side exchanged some quality scoring chances. Cyclones netminder Andy Iles was charged with making some big saves in the period, especially in the final minutes with the Quad City goalie pulled, however the Cyclones withstood the barrage, and Cincinnati came away with the 4-3 win.
The Cyclones outshot the Mallards, 35-34 on the night, with Iles stopping 31 to take the victory. The win secures the seventh spot in the Western Conference for the Cyclones, and sets up a matchup with the Ft. Wayne Komets in the first round of the 2016 Kelly Cup Playoffs. Game 1 is set for next Friday in Ft. Wayne, with faceoff slated for 8:00pm ET.
With Cincinnati Cyclone release
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