INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Fuel hosted the Wheeling Nailers to kick off another three-in-three weekend on Friday night and ultimately took the win 3-1 over Wheeling.
After a chippy first period puck drop, Alex Wideman scored first with a tip-in on a slap shot by Kirill Chaika, to put the Fuel up 1-0 at 5:19. This makes Wideman the Fuel’s franchise single season points leader, breaking Ryan Rupert’s previous record of 64 points in the 2018-19 season which he achieved in 70 games.
Wheeling’s Brooklyn Kalmikov took the game’s first penalty for cross-checking at 6:16. Luc Brown capitalized on this with a power play goal assisted by Max Golod and Chad Yetman.
This put the Fuel up 2-0 early in the first period before Chaika took a hooking penalty at 11:41 of the first. Indy was able to kill it off and the score remained 2-0 into the first intermission, with the Fuel outshooting the Nailers 13-7.
Things got progressively chippier in the second period however there was only one penalty handed out to Wheeling’s Kenny Johnson. He got two minutes for holding at 7:49.
Matus Spodniak scored for Indy at 18:29 marking his first professional goal in his first professional game to make it 3-0 Fuel. Less than a minute later, Samuel Tremblay scored for Wheeling to make it 3-1. By the end of the second, Indy was outshooting Wheeling 32-18.
Max Golod opened the third period with a double minor penalty for high-sticking at 1:09 in the third period. The Fuel were able to kill it off despite a few good chances by the Nailers.
There were no goals or penalties recorded until 18:14 when Peter Laviolette took two minutes for tripping, giving the Fuel a power play opportunity to close out regulation.
At 19:29 however, Logan Nijhoff also took a tripping penalty. After a timeout, Wheeling pulled their goaltender in favor of the extra skater. Despite having the technical power play, the Fuel closed out the game and claimed the 3-1 win.
The Indy Fuel are back in action at Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Sunday, April 2 as they take on the Kalamazoo Wings for Family Fun & Kids Eat Free Day.
With Indy Fuel release
Interested in writing about hockey, opining about your team, photographing hockey? Stop by our recruitment page by clicking here.
You must be logged in to post a comment.