The Listowel Cyclones battled through a slow first period, and put together an explosive 3rd period to cruise to a 6-2 victory over the Brantford 99ers.
The game 2 victory pushed the Cycs to a 2-0 series lead, a stark contrast to last year's playoffs when they were swept by Waterloo. A slow 1st period for both teams resulted in a scoreless tie, but there were few whistles and long stretches of wide open action with no offense to show for it.
The 2nd period brought on a 3-0 barrage from the Cyclones, as they started to lay claim to the contest. Jamie Huber opened the scoring with a dart to the top shelf over 99ers goalie Aiden Link. Then, a few short minutes later, Chase Herrfort jumped on a loose puck in the high slot and sent a laser into Link's water bottle. Jakob Lee added a powerplay marker off a nice passing sequence, sliding an easy tap-in behind link to make it 3-0 after two. That would be the lone man advantage the Cycs had all game, with Brantford earning 3 powerplays, and were unable to make any of them count.
In the 3rd, the 99ers battled back in quick fashion, with forward Mike Finger shredding a shot past Brock Baier just 10 seconds into the 3rd to make it 3-1. Finger would add another goal just 35 seconds later to cut the Cyclones lead to 3-2. But after that, it was all Cyclones, as they regrouped and showed why they were the most explosive offensive team in the Midwest this year. Holdyn Lansink scored off a pretty pass from behind the goal line to recapture a 2 goal lead. Only minutes later, Brady Anderson sent another top shelf shot past Link to make the score 5-2. Lansink added his second of the night, and incredibly his 7th point of the playoffs, just 14 seconds later to put the final nail in the coffin.
The Cyclones will now look to grab a commanding 3-0 series lead tomorrow afternoon in Listowel, with a 12:30 puck drop at the Memorial.