Fuel continue weekend road trip in Fort Wayne

FANIMATION GAME PREVIEW: FUEL AT KOMETS

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8 - 7:30 P.M.

ALLEN COUNTY WAR MEMORIAL COLISEUM - FORT WAYNE, IND.

BROADCAST INFO: ECHL.TV

THE MATCHUP: The Indy Fuel (10-11-0-0) continue a weekend road trip through the Central Division Saturday as they visit the Fort Wayne Komets (11-9-0-0). Puck drop from Allen County War Memorial Coliseum is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, with coverage available through ECHL.TV.

The Fuel arrive in Allen County looking for their first win of the season against the Komets, heading into the third of 11 meetings in 2018-19. Fort Wayne has picked up a pair of victories over Indy to start the season series, including a 5-2 triumph at Memorial Coliseum in the previous meeting between the two teams back on Nov. 2.

With 20 points in 21 games, Indy currently sits in fourth place in the Central Division, two points behind the third-place Komets, and three ahead of fifth-place Kalamazoo.

LAST TIME OUT: Indy fell victim to a late rally by the Kalamazoo Wings, who scored four unanswered goals to take down the Fuel 5-3 Friday night at Wings Event Center. The Wings outscored Indy 3-0 in the final period of play, including two goals in the first four minutes of the frame to erase a 3-2 Fuel lead. Mathew Thompson, Radovan Bondra and Miles Liberati scored for Indy, while goaltender Kevin Lankinen suffered his first loss of the season.

ROUGH TIMES ON THE ROAD: For as successful as Indy has been this season on home ice, the club has struggled to get the job done outside of Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Friday's loss in Kalamazoo was the Fuel's fourth straight setback away from home, dropping their overall road record to 2-8 on the season. Through 10 games on the road, Indy has been outscored by a 45-24 margin, including a 19-7 mark during the current four game skid.

MIGHTY MAT: With a late first period goal on Friday night, Fuel forward Mathew Thompson extended a point streak to five games. The rookie has tallied two goals and four assists over that span, while leading all Indy first-year players with 12 points (3g, 9a) on the season. Joining the Fuel late in the 2017-18 season, Thompson has put together a solid start to his professional career, collecting five goals and 15 assists in 27 ECHL games.

IT'S A TWIN THING: Forwards Ryan and Matt Rupert have been a reliable source of offensive production for Indy as of late. Over the Fuel's last five games, the twin brothers have combined for two goals and seven assists. Ryan picked up his team-leading 15th assist of the season Friday in Kalamazoo, while Matt ranks third on the Indy roster with eight goals.

SPOTTING THE KOMETS: After trailing the Fuel in the Central Division standings for much of the month of November, the Komets have since leapfrogged into third place. After a slow 1-5 start to the season, Fort Wayne has won 10 of its last 14 outings dating back to a 5-2 win over Indy on Nov. 2.

The Komets started their weekend Friday night with a 5-4 road victory over the Wheeling Nailers at WesBanco Arena. Jumping out to a 4-0 lead from four first period goals, Fort Wayne held off a spirited comeback attempt from the Nailers to improve to 6-1 over its last seven games.

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