Zach Okabe (7) celebrated his 25th birthday with a top-shelf power-play goal to get the scoring started for Kalamazoo at the 18:40 mark of the first period. On the setup, Jayden Lee (9) sent the puck from the blue line to Quinn Preston (14) in the left circle, who crossed to Okabe for the first power-play goal of 2026.
Colin Bilek (6) carried the momentum into the second period with a breakaway top-shelf snipe to bring the lead to two at the 8:06 mark. On the play, the Fuel fired a shot off of Hunter Strand (7) that deflected to Nolan Walker (12) in the defensive left circle and launched the pass to Bilek.
Unfortunately, Indy responded with a pair of goals, one at the 12:01 mark and another 13 minutes into the third period to knot the game at two and send the game to overtime. After a scoreless overtime period the game went to a shootout.
Kalamazoo had it’s best penalty kill performance of the season, going a perfect 6-for-6.
Next up, the K-Wings hit the road for a midweek clash against the Bloomington Bison (14-11-2-2) on Wednesday, January 7, at 8 p.m. EST at Grossinger Motors Arena.
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