INDIANAPOLIS, IND – The Indy Fuel erupted for a club record six unanswered first period goals before withstanding a furious come-from-behind rally from the visiting Quad City Mallards to capture an 8-7 triumph Sunday afternoon at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
Matt Rupert’s 17th goal of the season at 4:30 of the first frame of the game ignited the Indy powder keg as the Fuel chased Quad City starting goaltender C.J. Motte for cover under a hail of pucks on the impetus of a four goal blitz in 4:46 with the first two strikes stoked 24 apart, representing the Fuel’s second fastest two goals of the campaign.
Following the Rupert score, Jake Marchment, Josh Shalla and Paul Zanette fired bullseyes 4:22 apart before Kenny Ryan climaxed the six-goal crescendo with a pair of snipes in 32 at 18:31 and 19:03 respectively.
Seemingly undaunted and unfazed, the Quad Citians embarked on the comeback trail with a trio of unanswered thrusts in the middle stanza to half their deficit to 6-3 entering the third period.
After the Mallards Guillaume Gelinas made connection on his second goal of the game at the 4:07 mark to dwindle the Indy lead to 6-4, the Fuel finally riposted when Nick Bligh redirected a Nick Mattson point shot to rebuild the lead to 7-4. However, Quad City remained relentless as Sam Warning completed the three goal hat trick, followed by Chase Lang’s goal from the crease and the Fuel lead had once again dwindled dangerously to 7-6.
That set the stage for the Ryan goal-scoring heroics as the swift center found the empty net at 18:35 of the final stanza, completing his hat trick performance. The Mallards stayed on task when Justin Kovacs scored with 19 remaining before the Fuel could exhale relief and claim victory.
Quad City outshot Indy 33-31 with both teams going 0-for-1 on the power play. It was the Fuel’s first win in five tries on home ice this season against the “Quad Squad” with their 8-goal output being their best of the season.
With the win, the Fuel elevated their record to 3-2-1 for 7 points over the last six games and 3-3-2 through their first eight dates in March. Indy vaults over idle Wichita into sole possession of sixth place in the ECHL’s Western Conference Central Division standings on a record of 18-39-6 for 42 points.
The Fuel will play their next 4-games on the road including a 3-games in 3-days road trip next weekend to South Carolina where they will be hosted by Greenville on Friday and Saturday nights and the South Carolina Stingrays in North Charleston next Sunday afternoon.
Next home game for the Fuel will be Saturday, April 1st at 7:35 p.m. from the Farmers Coliseum against their principal arch-rivals, the Fort Wayne Komets.
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