FORT WAYNE, IN – A power play opportunity at the beginning of the second period allowed Matt Rupert to position himself in front of the net to redirect a shot from Radovan Bondra to give the Fuel their first lead of the night that would continue to the end to defeat the Fort Wayne Komets 5-2.
Fort Wayne’s (11-10-0) Shawn Sydlowski and Indy’s (11-11-0) Miles Liberati had a confrontation that led Komet’s Justin Kea to get involved. Refs broke up the altercation before a fight could ensue but resulted in unsportsmanlike conduct’s for all three of the players. With Indy on the power play forward Rupert lingered in front of the net to tap in a rebound from Bondra at 6:15 to bring the Fuel to a 2-1 score.
Less than two minutes left to go in the second the Fuel found themselves on the penalty kill for the fourth time that night after Zach Miskovic got called for tripping. Forward Mathew Thompson had a breakaway goal on a 2-on-1 rush burying the puck in the net to extend the lead to 3-1.
Fort Wayne was able to get on the board first with a breakaway short handed goal from Jamie Schaafsma at 9;55 in the first period. Less than four minutes later Rupert had his first goal of the night at 12:25 with a dagger from the left circle bouncing into the net past Komet’s goalkeeper Lukas Hafner.
Komet’s Jason Binkley shortened the Fuel’s lead with a goal 27 seconds into the third period but Indy’s Olivier Labelle notched his eigth of the season 30 seconds later. An empty netter from Rupert at 19:51 brought the final score to 5-2.
Fort Wayne out shot Indy 30 to 23 while the Komets finished 0-for-4 on the power play and the Fuel finished 1-for-4.
Goaltender Matt Tomkins had 28 saves on 30 shots while Hafner had 18 saves on 22 shots.
The Fuel continue their three game road trip Sunday in Wheeling, West Virginia at the Wesbanco Arena. They then return to the Indiana Farmers Coliseum to take on the Tulsa Oilers on December 14th and 15th.
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