Friday, March 31, 2000
Cyclones 3, Cleveland 0
BY JOHN P. WISE
Enquirer contributor
The Cincinnati Cyclones broke a scoreless tie midway through the third period and added two more goals in the next 6:20 to turn a defensive struggle into a 3-0 win over Cleveland Thursday at the Firstar Center.
The Cyclones, who face the Lumberjacks again tonight at Firstar, improved to 40-27-7 and became the first IHL team to win 40 games in seven straight seasons. They also stretched their lead to six points over Cleveland for third place in the Eastern Conference.
Cincinnati defenseman David Tanabe had three assists, and the Cyclones took advantage of Cleveland's defense, which scored an accidental goal and had two of its regulars ejected for game misconducts.
Ian MacNeil broke the scoreless tie midway through the third period when his shot bounced off the stick of Dmitri Tolkunov and the back of Todd Rohloff and beat goalie Ian Gordon.
“It takes a fluke goal sometimes to get you started,” Cyclones coach Ron Smith said.
A first-period fight sent a pair from each team out of the game early Cleveland lost defensemen Remi Royer and Radim Bicanek to game misconducts, while Cyclones Eric Dandenault and Craig Adams also were ejected.
After MacNeil's goal, the Cyclones scored twice more in the next 6:20 to seal the win. For the final goal, Tanabe skated down the right side, faked inside, pulled the puck back and dropped a pass for Byron Ritchie for a one-timer.
“Skating's part of my game,” said Tanabe, who has 10 points in his last 13 games. “If I'm not skating, it's hard for me to contribute.”
Cleveland ....... 0 0 0—0
Cincinnati ....... 0 0 3—3
First period: None.
Second period: None.
Third period: Cin, MacNeil 18 (Ustorf, Tanabe) 7:51; Cin, Dionne 34 (Tanabe, Simon) 12:29; Cin, Ritchie 6 (Tanabe, Felsner) 14:11.
Shots on goal: Cle 8-8-8 24; Cin, 13-8-13 34. Goalies: Cle, Gordon (31 saves); Cin, Petruk (24). Power plays: Cle, 0-for-2; Cin, 0-for-6. Attendance: 4,677.
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