Fuel rally to cool off Komets in overtime

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – In the first of three games in three days, the Indy Fuel hosted I-69 rival Fort Wayne Komets on Friday night. Giving up two goals in the first period, Indy would rally to score two goals in the third period to force overtime. Matt Marcinew got loose on a breakaway to give Indy the 3-2 win in overtime.

After a slow start to the game, it would take until the middle of the opening frame for anybody to get on the board. Fort Wayne would take the lead at the 9:32 mark in the first period when Matt Boudens got loose and one-timed a pass from Mathieu Brodeur past Billy Christopoulos. Indy would earn a later power play but would fail to score, sending Fort Wayne into the locker room leading 1-0.

Through the first 12 minutes of the second period, Indy outshot the Komets 6-3 but Fort Wayne goaltender Stefanos Lekkas would hold on to the 1-0 lead. It took until the dying seconds of the second period for either team to score when Fort Wayne’s Anthony Petruzzelli streaked past the Fuel defense and beat Christopoulos with a wrist shot.

Scoring their first goal of the game 1:22 into the third period, Indy would cut the Fort Wayne lead in half. Jumping on a Komets turnover, Jared Thomas made Chris Martenet a pass and Martenet beat Lakkas with a wrist shot. Tying the game halfway through the final period, Nic Pierog collected a pass from Martenet and fired a wrist shot past Lekkas to knot the game at two goals apiece. The Komets would kill off a long, 5-minute penalty to Brandon Hawkins forcing overtime.

Nearly ending the game early in overtime, Michael McNicholas got alone in the Fort Wayne defensive zone and rang the post. Forcing a Fort Wayne turnover in the Fuel defensive zone Mike Lee sprung a pass to a streaking Marcinew who tucked the puck through the legs of Lakkas to give Indy the 3-2 win on Friday night.

The Fuel and Komets will have at it again against each other on Saturday night at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum with puck drop set for 7:05 p.m.

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