INDIANAPOLIS, IN – In a rematch of Friday night’s overtime thriller, the Fuel hosted the Fort Wayne Komets for the second of three straight games on Saturday night. Responding to their overtime loss on Friday night, the Komets put eight goals on the Fuel on Saturday, tying a Fuel record for most goals allowed at Indiana Farmers Coliseum on the way to an 8-1 win.
It only took Fort Wayne 45 seconds to score the opening goal when Komets’ points leader Zach Pochiro rocketed a slap shot past Fuel goaltender Dan Bakala. Taking advantage of back-to-back shorthanded breakaways, Fort Wayne’s Spencer Smallman and Jason Cotton gave the Komets a 3-0 lead going into the locker room after the first period.
Fort Wayne would take the 4-0 lead at the 8:41 mark in the second period when Pochiro stole a puck and beat Bakala on a short break away. The Komets would take a 5-0 lead in the second period when Stephen Harper jumped on his own rebound and beat Bakala with a wrist shot.
Scoring their sixth goal of the game :24 seconds later, Blake Siebenaler fired a wrist shot from the blueline past Bakala. Capitalizing on another shorthanded breakaway, Smallman tucked a puck between Bakala’s legs to give Fort Wayne a 7-0 lead.
Taking advantage of a Fuel penalty in the third period, the Komets would score their eighth goal of the game when Jackson Leef fed a back-door pass to a wide-open Anthony Nellis, who tapped the puck past Billy Christopoulos. The Fuel’s Michael Pelech would score Indy’s only goal of the game in the final minute but Fort Wayne would eventually take the 8-1 win on Saturday night.
The teams will finish their weekend trio of games Sunday afternoon with a 3:05 p.m. puck drop in Indianapolis.
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