INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Playing the first game of the calendar year, the Fuel hosted the Iowa Heartlanders at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. After a scoreless first period, Indy saw four goals from CJ Eick, Spencer Watson and Seamus Malone (two) as they won 4-1 on Sunday afternoon.
As both teams traded chances throughout the first 10 minutes of the period, nobody would be able to get on the board. Indy would have a chance on the power play but Iowa goaltender Corbin Kaczperski would hold them at bay. Although Indy outshot the Heartlanders 10-7 in the first, both teams went into the locker room scoreless.
Scoring the first goal of the game, Eick received a pass from Jan Mandat and fired it over the shoulder of Kaczperski to give Indy a 1-0 lead. Indy would double their lead when Watson jumped on a loose rebound in front of Kaczperski and buried it in the back of the net. The Fuel outshot the Heartlanders 15-4 in the second period, sending them to the locker room leading 2-0.
The Heartlanders would be the first team to get on the board in the third period when Jake Smith jumped on a rebound and drove the puck past a sprawling Mitch Gillam. Malone would put the Fuel up 3-1 after beating an Iowa defenseman down the sideboards and fired a wrist shot over the shoulder of Kaczperski. Malone would net his second goal of the game when he put in the empty-net goal and gave the Fuel a 4-1 lead and the eventual win.
With Indy Fuel release