Cincinnati Cyclones Power Past Las Vegas Wranglers 4-2 - ECHL Kelly Cup Finals

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - CINCINNATI – Three first period power play goals and the largest crowd in Cincinnati Cyclones playoff history guided the way to a 4-2 win over Las Vegas in the opening game of the Kelly Cup Finals Saturday night at U.S. Bank Arena. David Desharnais netted a pair of goals and added an assist in the win.

This was the first game of the best of seven Kelly Cup Finals. The second game will be held at U.S. Bank Arena on Sunday night at 7:30pm. It is the first time in 35 years that a Cincinnati pro hockey team has competed in it’s league finals. The last team to compete for a championship was the 1973 Cincinnati Swords, which captured the AHL’s Calder Cup in five games over Nova Scotia .

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A crowd of 8676 turned out at U.S. Bank Arena to root the Cyclones to the win.

It was the biggest playoff crowd in Cyclones history, eclipsing the mark of 5210, set on May 9 in the South Carolina series. It was the biggest crowd by any team during the 2008 Kelly Cup playoffs and the biggest in any Kelly Cup playoff game since May 27, 2001—when 8834 showed up for a Kelly Cup Finals game between Trenton at South Carolina.

The Cyclones exploded for three first period powerplay goals in building a 3-1 lead. David Desharnais opened the scoring one minute into the contest, ramming home a shot that trickled through the pads of Las Vegas netminder Kevin Lalonde—his eighth of the postseason. Bryan Schmidt and Jean-Michel Daoust added the assists on the goal. The Wranglers leveled the scores at one, as Peter Ferraro netted his eighth of the postseason and 44^th of his playoff career from Mike Madill and Jason Krischuk.

A pair of Cyclones goals 66 seconds apart gave Cincinnati the 3-1 edge. Bryan Schmidt fired a rising shot from the slot at 14:49 to tally his fourth goal, as Daoust and Desharnais dished out the helpers. At 15:55, Mathieu Aubin collected his eighth of the playoffs from the top of the goal crease from Jason Deitsch and Ryan Russell. Las Vegas outshot the Cyclones, 10-8, in the opening frame.

The lead extended to 4-1 in the second period, as Daoust poked a puck in the goal crease past Lalonde—his third of the postseason. David Desharnais added the assist on the score. The shots in the middle period were knotted up at eight apiece.

Las Vegas netted the only goal of the third period, off the stick of Jason Jozsa at 7:00—his fourth. Cincinnati ’s defensive effort down the stretch was stellar—as the Cyclones limited the Wranglers to just two shots on goal in the final 9:50. In the third period, the shots favored Cincinnati , 7-6. Las Vegas held the upper hand in the shots for the game at 24-23.

The teams are competing for the Kelly Cup, presented annually by the ECHL to its playoff champion. This is the 20^th season of operation for the ECHL and the Cyclones first trip to the Finals series. Cincinnati swept Johnstown in four games, knocked off Reading in seven games and defeated South Carolina in five games to reach this series. Las Vegas dropped Stockton in six games, Alaska in five games and swept Utah to reach the Kelly Cup Finals. It is the first-ever Finals trip for the Wranglers as well.

The series marks the first time in ECHL history that two John Brophy Trophy winners (ECHL Coach of the Year) have faced one another for the championship. Cyclones Head Coach Chuck Weber won the award this season and Glen Gulutzan of Las Vegas captured the award in 2005-06.

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