CYCLONES GAME PREVIEW

Cincinnati Cyclones (13-12-0-4)
vs.
Wheeling Nailers (14-14-0-0)

Click here for tonight's game note packet

DATE: Saturday, January 3, 2015
TIME: 7:30pm ET
SITE: U.S. Bank Arena - Cincinnati, OH
BROADCAST: Cyclones Radio Network, ECHL.TV

NHL AFFILIATES
Cincinnati Cyclones: Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators
Wheeling Nailers: Pittsburgh Penguins, Montreal Canadiens

NEXT HOME GAME (After Tonight)
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14 - 7:30pm vs. EVANSVILLE
$1 BEERS / ADULT T-SHIRT NIGHT

Tonight's Matchup: The Cyclones are set to close a busy week tonight as they return home to host the Wheeling Nailers at U.S. Bank Arena. The Nailers narrowly escaped with a 4-3 win in Downtown Cincinnati back in November to open this four-game season series. Tonight will mark Wheeling’s final visit to the Queen City during the regular season.

Tonight's Promotion: Throwback Night / Teddy Bear Toss / STH Post-Game Skate - We roll back the prices for our annual Throwback Night featuring $10 tickets, $1 hot dogs, pizza, soda, and beer! Plus, bring a new/gently used stuffed toy to throw onto the ice when the Cyclones score their first goal. This year's collection will benefit the Cincinnati Police Department. Then, after the game, full and 24-game season ticket holders are invited to stick around to take the ice with their favorite players for an exsluive skating event.

Scouting the Nailers: Clark Donatelli’s club opened its 2015 portion of the schedule with a 5-4 shootout win last night against the Fort Wayne Komets and sit just two points back of Cincinnati in the North Division standings. Rookie Derek Army holds the active lead in scoring for the Nailers, amassing 22 points (10g, 12a) in 28 games this season. David Gilbert has also been a strong contributor with 17 tallies (7g, 10a) in 28 contests. Both Franky Palazzese and Eric Hartzell have seen the bulk of the action for Wheeling this year. Palazzese has earned a 7-10-0 record with a 3.59 goals-against average while Hartzell, who won the game last night, has gone 7-4-0 with a 2.53 GAA.

Spreading the Wealth: Cincinnati continues to be an offense-by- committee this season - with all but two players on the roster having notched a point. What’s even more impressive is that, of Cincinnati’s 13 wins, the game-winning goal has come from 10 different sources. Byron Froese, Christiaan Minella, and Stephan Vigier lead the club with two such strikes.

Goin' Streaking: Quietly, Cyclones captain David MacDonald has strung together an impressive streak of offense. After scoring a goal in last night's game, the defenseman has tallied points in six consecutive games - the longest stretch of his professional career.

Season Series at a Glance (4 games - 2 home, 2 away - 3 remaining):
Cincinnati's 2014-15 Record vs. Wheeling: 0-1-0-0
Nov 8 Wheeling 4 at Cincinnati 3 Final
Jan 3 Wheeling at Cincinnati 7:30pm EST
Feb 7 Cincinnati at Wheeling 8:05pm EST
Mar 29 Cincinnati at Wheeling 4:05pm EDT