Cyclones Win Tight Game At Home Against Toledo

In celebration of the Martin Luther Kingholiday, the ECHL had a slate of three afternoon games on Monday.

One featured the Cincinnati Cyclones hosting the Central Division-leading Toledo Walleye at Heritage Bank Center. Cincy came away with a tight 2-1 victory, with both their goals being scored by Marko Sikic.

It’s the first two-goal performance in Sikic’s career, and the Cyclones improve to 14-20-5.

After getting off to a slow start this season, Cincinnati has gone 9-2-1 over their last 12 games. The team also picked up another victory when leading after two periods and are now 14-1-0 over that span.

Despite early pressure by the Walleye, it was Cincy who scored on their first shot. Chris Dodero entered the zone and centered a pass to Sikic, who found the back of the net for his third goal of the year.

With the goal, Sikic now has points in three of his last four games.

Cyclones goaltender Pavel Cajan set the tone in the first period by stopping all nine Toledo shots that came his way, including a brilliant paddle save late in the frame.

The Cyclone attack was aggressive in the second period, as they outshot the Walleye 14-6. Dodero and Sikic connected once again, this time with Sikic scoring on a rebound.

With the assist, Dodero earned his third multi-point performance of the season and has points in six of his last eight appearances.

The Cincy lead stayed at 2-0 heading into the third. Trenton Bliss spoiled Cajan’s bid for a shutout with a power-play goal for his 13^th tally of the season.

That was all the Walleye would get, as their record falls to 24-10-5 with the 2-1 loss. It was the first time this season Toledo has lost a one-goal game in 15 such situations.