Fuel and Grizzlies continue tripleheader Friday night

FANIMATION GAME PREVIEW: FUEL AT GRIZZLIES

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16 - 9:05 P.M.

MAVERIK CENTER, WEST VALLEY CITY, UTAH

BROADCAST INFO: ECHL.TV

THE MATCHUP: The Indy Fuel (6-6-0-0) continue their three-game set in West Valley City Friday night in a rematch against the Utah Grizzlies (8-1-3-0) at Maverik Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 9:05 p.m. ET, and fans back in Indianapolis can follow the action live by logging on to ECHL.TV.

Indy enters the weekend looking to bounce back from a 4-3 loss to the Grizzlies on Wednesday night, while Utah is trying to extend its winning streak to five games. Despite alternating wins and losses over their last six games, the Fuel are still in control of third place in the Central Division standings with 12 points, two ahead of the fourth-place Fort Wayne Komets and three ahead of the Kalamazoo Wings.

LAST TIME OUT: Utah withstood an Indy comeback attempt to open the three-game set with a 4-3 victory on Wednesday night. Three unanswered goals in the second period helped the Grizzlies build a 4-1 lead before the halfway point of the contest, before the Fuel rallied with two goals of their own. Tim McGauley scored twice for Utah, while Josh Shalla, Connor Moynihan and Kevin Dufour each fournd the net for Indy. Goaltender Matt Tomkins was busy in net for the Fuel, stopping a season-high 40 shots in the loss.

ONE-TWO PUNCHED: A recurring theme happening in Indy's recent setbacks has been surrendering goals in quick succession. Utah's three second period tallies came over a span of 7:22, including two goals 80 seconds apart to extend a 2-1 lead to 4-1. In each of the Fuel's last five losses, the club's opponent has scored two goals within a minute and a half of each other. In three of those defeats, Indy has yielded three goals in under a three minute span.

DUFFMAN: Fuel forward Kevin Dufour continued his stretch of hot offensive play on Wednesday, picking up his fifth goal of the season early in the third period. After being held scoreless over a three game stretch from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2, Dufour has tallied six points (4g, 2a) in his last four contests.

ONE-ON-ONE FUN: Goaltender Matt Tomkins made a season-high 40 saves in Wednesday's loss, and perhaps the biggest one came early in the third period when he denied Utah forward Tim McGauley on a penalty shot. Tomkins save was the second successful penalty shot for Indy netminders in as many games, with Kevin Lankinen shutting the door on Cincinnati's Myles Powell last Saturday in Indianapolis.

Prior to Lankinen's save, the Fuel had not faced a penalty shot since since Allen's Zach Hall scored on Jake Hildebrand on Feb. 17, 2017. Indy is the only team in the ECHL to face multiple penalty shots against so far this season.