It was an inauspicious debut for Toledo rookie goalie Jordan Pearce and the Walleye defense looked shaky in the third game of the preseason last night.
Cincinnati forward Mark Voakes had a hat trick and the Cyclones skated away with a 7-4 win before a crowd of about 500 at Tam O'Shanter. Toledo was outshot 32-30 and Pearce made 25 saves.
"[Poor] defensive zone coverage sums the majority of our problems up tonight," Walleye coach Nick Vitucci said. "There was a lack of focus and execution. There was a lack of wanting to out-duel the opponent. That really surprised me. [Friday] night we did a really good job with basically the same d-core."
Maxime Tanguay scored shorthanded and Adam Hobson scored on the power play for Toledo. The Walleye also got even-strength goals from Jonathan Trottier and Justin Hodgman. The exhibition contest also featured three fights.
"We could have played harder," said Hodgman, who also had an assist. "We need to eliminate turnovers. We need to make the right plays and not make so many mistakes."
The game was tied at 4 midway through the second period but the Cyclones then posted three unanswered goals to send Toledo (1-2) to its second loss in three nights. The Walleye, which beat the Cyclones 3-2 on Friday, will play its final preseason game at 4 p.m. today against Port Huron at Team Toledo Ice House.Pearce led Notre Dame to a Central Collegiate Hockey Association title last season with a 30-6-3 record and 1.68 goals against average. But he had difficulties last night.
"He struggled," Vitucci said. "I'm sure he'd like to have some of those back. But that's all part of the learning curve for him as a professional - just growing some whiskers."
The Cyclones tallied two goals over the first seven minutes of the second period to seize a 4-2 advantage. Voakes scored his third on a one-timer and Felix Petit got another by Pearce a little more than minute later.
Toledo responded however with two of its own within a two-minute span. Trottier snuck one over Jeremy Smith's shoulder. Hodgman was awarded a goal on a deflection to tie it at 4 midway through the second period.
Two more fights then broke out with Toledo's Milan Maslonka (6-7, 245 pounds) squaring off with Hans Benson (6-0, 210). But a better brawl occurred after the next face off when Trottier sent Kyle Hagel to the ice with a big punch.
Cincinnati scored with just four seconds left in a power play with 6:19 left in the second period as Kevin Roeder put the Cyclones up 5-4.
Cincinnati took advantage of a Toledo turnover deep in its own end to go up 6-4. Jimmy Kilpatrick slipped it by Pearce 2:29 into the third period. Pearce then let in a long shot from outside the blue line by Scott Reynolds a minute later for a 7-4 lead.
Vitucci said the No. 1 netminder position is still up for grabs between Pearce and Alec Richards.
"We have two quality goaltenders. Until one separates themselves I'll be content with rotating them," he said.
The Walleye fell behind quickly 2-0 on two goals by Voakes.
Toledo got on the board when Tanguay scored on a nifty backhander to score at the 11:18 mark of the first period.
Contact Mark Monroe at:
mmonroe@theblade.com
or 419-724-6354.
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