The I-69 rivalry between Fort Wayne and Indy reheated on Friday at the Coliseum.
The Komets struck first in the opening period as Alex Aleardi set up Matt Copponi for his third goal of the season at 9:54, which was quickly followed by a goal by Aleardi at 11:15. The Fuel got on the board at 11:14 to make it a 2-1 Komet lead after one period of play.
In the second period, Indy netted a goal just twenty-three-seconds into the frame to tie the game. Indy’s Jesse Tucker took advantage of a Komets’ turnover and ripped a shot past goaltender Nathan Day to put the Fuel up 3-2 at 7:57, but the Komets answered with a power-play goal off the stick of William Dufour at 8:51 to tie the game 3-3.
Austin Magera lifted the Komets back into the lead with his 20th goal of the season at 6:26 of the third period, with assists going to Trevor Janicke and Kirill Tyutyayev, who picked up his third helper of the match. The lead was short-lived as the Fuel’s Jadon Joseph banked the puck off the leg of Day from behind the Komet net to knot the game 4-4 at 9:03.
For the fourth time in the season series, the game was decided via overtime, where veteran Jalen Smereck ended the back-and-forth match, burying a pass from Dufour past Indy’s goaltender Owen Flores at 1:29 to give the Komets the 5-4 win.
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