INDY DOMINATES WHEELING IN WEDNESDAY NIGHT MATCHUP

WHEELING -In their first of four games this week, the Fuel visited the Wheeling Nailers on Wednesday night. Scoring two goals in the first period and two in the second, Indy would see Dan Bakala make 36 saves in a 4-1 win over the Nailers at WesBanco Arena. 

After a physical start to the period where Indy saw two players head to the locker room with injuries, both teams would remain scoreless until the five-minute mark. Earning a power play off of an interference penalty by Patrick McNally, Indy’s Jared Thomas jumped on a rebound and beat Alex D’Orio to give Indy a 1-0 lead. Doubling their lead less than a minute later Nick Hutchison forced a turnover and fed Antoine Waked who put the puck in an empty net to send Indy to the locker room leading 2-0. 

With each team earning a chance on the man-advantage in the first half of the middle stanza, nobody would be able to put the puck in the net. After weathering the Wheeling storm for the first 12 minutes of the period, Indy would triple their lead when Matt Marcinew fired a wrist shot over the shoulder of Alex D’Orio. Nick Hutchison would give Indy a 4-0 lead when he stole the puck from a Wheeling defenseman and beat D’Orio with a wrist shot. 

Killing off a long 5-on-3 penalty early in the third, Indy’s Dan Bakala would be tasked with making several stops on the Wheeling power play. The Fuel would kill off three penalties in the first 15 minutes of the final period and only get outshot 5-4 with 5:43 left in the third. It would take the Nailers until just over a minute remaining in the game to score their first goal but eventually fall to Indy 4-1.  

Various ticket options are now on sale for the Fuel’s 7th season at Indiana Farmers Coliseum! Lock up your seat for every second of the action at Indiana Farmers Coliseum with a Fuel Ticket Plan – grab yours by heading to IndyFuelHockey.com or by calling the Fuel front office at 317-925-FUEL. Don’t forget to follow the Fuel on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (IndyFuel) for news, updates, contests and much more throughout the 2020-21 season. 

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