CINCINNATI — The Johnstown Chiefs couldn’t quite break through against the first-place Cincinnati Cyclones on Monday, falling 3-2.
The Cyclones, who hold a 21-point lead over second-place Elmira, recorded their 100th point of the season. The Chiefs are in fourth place, a point ahead of idle Dayton.
The first period featured plenty of chances for both teams. Johnstown outshot Cincinnati 10-9, but goalies Ryan Nie and Maxime Daigneault were both on top of their games. Each team had a power-play opportunity, but could not convert.
In the second period, the Cyclones benefited from five straight penalty calls against the Chiefs, and converted two of those into goals. Olivier Latendresse scored seven seconds into a 5-on-3 advantage with a slapshot from the right wing at 12:07, and Matt Syroczynski chipped a David Desharnais pass over Nie’s shoulder for a 2-0 lead at 16:08. At the end of two periods, the Cyclones were 2-for-6 with the man advantage while the Chiefs were 0-for-2.
Randy Rowe keyed the Johnstown attack with his 22nd goal of the season 2:13 into the third period to get the Chiefs within one. Joey Olson and Ryan Garlock provided assists. The assist extended Garlock’s point streak to a team-leading 17 games.
Jason Deitsch scored the eventual game-winning goal on a breakaway 9:53 into the third. It was Deitsch’s 10th goal of the year, and came off assists from Latendresse and Sean Perkins.
Alex Imbeault got Johnstown back within a goal when he directed Olson’s cross-ice pass behind Daigneault with 9:15 left in the game. Imbeault’s goal was the 18th of his rookie campaign.
Even with Nie pulled for an extra attacker, the Chiefs couldn’t find the tying goal, and dropped their seventh straight game to Cincinnati this season.
Nie ended the game with 31 saves, and the Chiefs’ power play finished 0-for-3.
Notes: The Chiefs get two more cracks at the Cyclones this week. Cincinnati hosts Johnstown at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. The Chiefs return home on Friday to host the Cyclones at 7:05 for a “turn-back-the clock” game during which they will don vintage Johnstown Red Wings jerseys. There will be a live jersey auction after that game.
