FORT WAYNE, Ind – In the ninth of 11 head-to-head meetings between the two teams this season, the Indy Fuel defeated the Fort Wayne Komets in a shootout on Saturday at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana by a final score of 5-4. With the win, the Fuel’s fourth straight victory and second straight over the Komets, Indy 
improved to 23-23-4-4 overall this season and with 54 points, vaulted into fourth place alone in the ECHL’s North Division standings and into playoff position.
The Komets stormed out to a 2-0 first period lead on Saturday thanks to goals from Matthew Pistilli and Shawn Szydlowski at 3:17 and 11:51, respectively. The Fuel responded with three consecutive goals from Chris DeSousa at 14:07 of the opening frame, Evan Vossen on the power-play at 8:39 of the second and Pete Massar just over four minutes later to claim a 3-2 advantage. Late in the middle stanza, the Komets came to life with back-to-back unassisted scores, from Christian Ouellet and Szydlowski at 17:24 and 19:16, to claim a slim 4-3 lead through 40 minutes of play.
Fuel leading scorer Garett Bembridge potted the third period’s lone goal on the power-play at 3:26 to tie the game at four and after a scoreless overtime frame, Nick Bruneteau provided the shootout’s lone tally either way, a second round conversion that, when combined with Indy goaltender Mac Carruth’s five-for-five showing, delivered Indy a 5-4 victory. Carruth set a new single-game personal season high with 53 saves on Saturday and with the win, the Fuel extended their ECHL-best road point streak to 13 games.
Next up for the Fuel, it’s a Friday tilt vs. the Evansville IceMen with the opening faceoff set for 8:15 pm EST at Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. Full coverage of Friday’s game begins with the “Jose Cuervo Pregame Show” at 8:00 pm EST over the air on CBS Sports 1430 WXNT-AM, online at www.cbssports1430.com and on smartphones everywhere via the free “TuneIn” Radio app with Fuel broadcaster Tony Brown providing the play-by-play.
With Indy Fuel game report
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