Dominic Franco and Lincoln Griffin scored, but the Newfoundland Growlers struck twice on the power play, ultimately helping them prevail with a 3-2 win Friday night.
The Cyclones are 35-30-3-0 with four games remaining in their regular season. The Growlers have won 14 of their last 15 home games and are 40-19-3-0.
- The Growlers' league-best power play clicked on its first chance in the opening period with Gordie Green converting on the man advantage, getting the puck past Sean Bonar for the 1-0 lead just over five minutes into the frame.
- In the second period, Cincinnati thought they had tied the game on a goal from Luc Brown, but video review determined the 'Clones forward kicked the puck into the net, therefore the game remained 1-0. Shortly after, Todd Skirving stepped in the low slot to make it 2-0 Growlers with his 19th goal of the season.
- Just 43 seconds after Newfoundland doubled its lead, Matt Cairns collected a puck at the blue line to shoot it towards Chase Perry. Franco got a piece of the puck at the net front to score his 10th goal of the season, making it 2-1 going into the third.
- Griffin tied the game at two, scoring in front of the goal for his 22nd of the year 5:34 into the frame. The tie lasted less than five minutes, as another power play opportunity benefited the Growlers, who got the go-ahead goal from Jeremy McKenna to make it 3-2 with half a period to play. The Cyclones emptied the net with 1:10 left, but were unable to solve Perry for a third time.
- Both Bonar and Perry made 27 saves.
The Cyclones and Growlers meet for game two of their three game weekend on Saturday evening.
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