GAME PREVIEW: FUEL VS. CYCLONES

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20 - 10:30 A.M.

INDIANA FARMERS COLISEUM, INDIANAPOLIS

TICKETS: TICKETMASTER, INDIANA FARMERS COLISEUM BOX OFFICE

BROADCAST INFO: 1070THEFAN.COM, ECHL.TV

The Story: The Indy Fuel (23-24-2-1) return to the Indiana Farmer's Coliseum after a going 4-3 in their seven game road trip. The puck drops at 10:30am Tuesday as Indy hosts the Cincinnati Cyclones in an important divisional matchup. The Fuel find themselves just eight points behind Kalamazoo for the 4th and final playoff spot in the central division, and nine points behind Cincinnati who sits third in the division.

Tuesday's game kicks off a five game home stand for the Fuel, with their inaugural Education Day Game. Students from around central Indiana will be in attendance Tuesday to learn more about the sport of hockey.

The Fuel return home after falling 6-2 to Tulsa in the final game of their season long seven game road trip. Indy took an early lead after a goal by defenseman Robin Press, but the Oilers responded by scoring six unanswered goals. Tulsa forward Charlie Sampair led the way for the Oilers with a natural hat-trick.

The Cyclones enter the Coliseum coming off an big overtime victory over Kalamazoo, in a battle for third place in the Central. Cincinnati scored two goals in the third period to send the game into overtime before defenseman Eric Diodati netted the game winning goal.

Multi Point Inspection: Fuel Defenseman Robin Press (6g, 14a) has a goal, two assists, and a plus-7 rating over the last four games ... Forward Josh Shalla (13g, 9a) had his seven game point streak snapped Sunday in Tulsa. Over that period Shalla had four goals and five assists ... The Indy Fuel are 9-1 after jumping out to a 1 goal goal lead this season.

Inside the Matchup: Tuesday's game is the fifth of 10 meetings between the Fuel and Cyclones this season, the fourth of six at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Indy leads the season series 4-0, claiming a 5-4 overtime victory at U.S. Bank Arena the last time the two clubs met on Jan. 26.

Forwards Darian Dziurzynski (3g, 2a) and Michael Neal (2g, 3a) lead the Fuel with five points apiece against the Cyclones, while goaltender Étienne Marcoux is 3-0 with a 2.27 goals against average and a .923 save percentage against Cincinnati.

Scouting Report: Cincinnati comes to Indianapolis with the first ranked Power Play in the ECHL with at 20.6 percent ... Despite their top ranked Power Play, the Cyclones have the last ranked penalty kill with 76.9 percent ... the Cyclones have scored four or more goals in 6 of their last 8 games ... Forward Daniel Muzito-Bagenda (10g, 23a) has two goals and three assists in three games against Indy.