CYCLONES CUT MAGIC NUMBER TO ONE WITH 6-4 WIN IN TULSA

CYCLONES CUT MAGIC NUMBER TO ONE WITH 6-4 WIN IN TULSA

A five-goal second period aided the Cyclones in rallying from a 2-0 deficit to top the Tulsa Oilers on the road by a 6-4 final Friday night.

Cincinnati continues its immaculate stretch of play, having strung together points in 14 straight games, going 12-0-1-1 in the process. The team has also tied a franchise best seven-game win streak on the road, matching totals from both the 2008 and 2010 seasons in which the Cyclones won the Kelly Cup. Cincinnati owns a 36-12-6-3 record with 81 points heading into the finale of a three-game road trip Saturday evening. The Cyclones can clinch a playoff berth if they earn one standings point Saturday night, or if Wheeling loses in any fashion (regulation, overtime, shootout) on Saturday to Fort Wayne.

  • Tulsa struck early and late in the first period to build itself a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes of play. Ethan Stewart got the scoring started 3:21 into the contest, knocking down a point shot from Jarod Hilderman before turning and shooting past Beck Warm. Alex Gilmour doubled the lead 16:04 into the first by redirecting a shot taken from Mike McKee atop the zone.

     
  • A wild second period saw the Cyclones take over, scoring five goals in a seven-goal frame that ended with the 'Clones up, 5-4. Matt Berry (15) put Cincinnati on the board by getting a piece of the puck off of him and into the goal during a power play 6:40 into the second. 26 seconds later, Josh Passolt (21) extended his point streak to eight games, tying the game after taking an initial shot that was blocked up high by an Oilers defenseman who collapsed to the ice, while Passolt picked the puck back up and fired it into the back of the net to beat Tulsa's Riley Morris, making it 2-2.

     
  • Tyler Poulsen scored on a wraparound 34 seconds later to make it 3-2, but Kohen Olischefski knotted the game at three a piece just 53 seconds after that, lobbing a shot from the blue line that trickled past Morris.

     
  • Louie Caporusso (19) and Zach Berzolla (3) connected with goals 25 seconds apart at the 11:59 and 12:24 marks of the second period to get Cincinnati a 5-3 lead. Caporusso placed his stick in front of the crease to angle in a pass from Berzolla, before the defenseman did it himself moments later by cruising in on the right-wing side before going five-hole on Morris, ending the goaltender's night after five goals against on 17 shots.

     
  • The Oilers got back within a goal late in the second, but Patrick Polino (16) put the game on ice 9:37 into period three. With Berzolla in the box, Passolt intercepted the puck in the defensive zone before advancing it to Polino for a shorthanded breakaway for the third-year pro to net the team's 12th shorthanded goal of the season.

     
  • Warm posted his 24th win of the season making 21 saves on the night.

     
  • Cincinnati wraps up its three-game road trip and the team's season series with the Oilers Saturday night.