Click here for tonight's game note packet

DATE: Saturday, March 23, 2013
TIME: 7:00pm ET
SITE: Germain Arena - Estero, FL
WEBCAST: CyclonesHockey.com (America One)
RADIO: FM 100 The FAN (100.3 FM)

NHL AFFILIATES
Cincinnati Cyclones: Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators
Florida Everblades: Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes

NEXT HOME GAME
Friday, March 29 vs. Evansville - 7:30pm
CINCINNATI'S LARGEST FISH FRY

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP: Tonight the Cyclones close out their season series with the Florida Everblades in hopes of pulling closer to the top of the Eastern Conference. Last night’s 6-2 win guaranteed Cincinnati no worse than the number two seed come playoff time. The Clones have gone 10-9-1 versus the ‘Blades since 2006.

SCOUTING THE EVERBLADES: With the defeat last night, Greg Poss’ club is all of a sudden toward the bottom of the conference, currently tied for seventh in the East with 79 points but are looking to fend off Toledo, who won last night. After another goal on Friday, Mathieu Roy continues to lead the ECHL in scoring, collecting 75 points (33 goals, 42 assists) in 64 games - his helper totals among the top five in the league. Matthew Pistilli has also been a major contributor on offense with 65 tallies (21 goals, 44 assists) in 68 contests. One of Florida’s best assets has been its power play; this season, the ‘Blades have converted on 20.8 percent of their opportunities this season - ranking third in the ECHL. However, they went 0-for-3 last night. Jesse Deckert suffered the loss in goal in the weekend series opener, dipping his record to 4-1-0-1 with a goals-against average of 2.92. Rookie Zeke Testa appeared in a relief effort last night for his first pro appearance and turned aside eight shots over 16 minutes of action.

Protecting His House: Cyclones rookie goaltender Michael Houser has been one of the ECHL’s best goaltenders of late. He has gone 10-2-1-1 in his last 14 starts and ranks 6th among all active league goaltenders with a 2.40 goals-against average.

Killing Never Looked So Good: A major constant for this year’s Cyclones team has been its penalty kill. They haven’t allowed more than one power play goal in nine of their last ten games and rank seventh in the ECHL overall with a 83.8% efficiency rate. They extinguished all three of Florida’s PP chances last night.

Eastern Conference Playoff Race: As of today, here’s how things shape up in the “East.” The top eight teams earn Kelly Cup Playoff bids

Seed--Team--Games Left--Pts
XY 1--REA--4--94
XY 2--CIN--4--90
X 3--GWT--2--85
X 4--ELM--5--81
X 5--SC--3--80
6--GRN--3--80
7--FLA--5--79
8--TOL--4--79
================
9--KAL--5--70
10--WHL--5--69
(X = clinched playoff spot / Y = clinched division title)

SEASON SERIES (5 TOTAL, 2 REMAINING)
Dec. 12 Florida 4 at Cincinnati 3 Final
Dec. 14 Florida 1 at Cincinnati 2 Final
Mar. 6 Florida 5 at Cincinnati 4 Final OT
Mar. 22 Cincinnati 6 at Florida 2 Final
Mar. 23 Cincinnati at Florida 7:00pm EDT