After falling to the Wheeling Nailers 3-1 on Wednesday night and being unable to play Thursday’s game, the Fuel hosts their I-69 rival Fort Wayne Komets on Saturday night for Marvel SuperHeroes Night. Indy is looking to put together back-to-back wins for the first time since March 20 while Fort Wayne is playing their second of three straight games on Saturday night.
TIME: 7:00 p.m. ET
TV/Stream: FloSports, mixlr.com/IndyFuel
TEAM RECORDS
IND: 27-16-4-0, 58 PTS
FW: 17-7-3-1, 38 PTS
TEAM LEADERS
IND
Matt Marcinew - 36 points (18G, 18A)
Nic Pierog - 29 points (19G, 10A)
Willie Raskob - 28 points (11G, 17A)
FW
Brandon Hawkins - 28 points (18G, 10A)
Zach Pochiro - 21 points (11G, 10A)
Randy Gazzola - 21 points (1G, 20A)
LAST TIME OUT
Playing their third game in three days against the Komets on April 11, the Fuel fell in extra minutes when Olivier Galipeau put in a rebound to win it for Fort Wayne at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. Following two scoreless periods, the Fuel broke through at 7:09 in the third when Diego Cuglietta found Michael Pelech in front of the net who buried a backhander to give the Fuel a 1-0 lead. Indy wouldn’t be able to hold on to the lead, giving up a goal to AJ Jenks late in the third before eventually falling 2-1 in overtime.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS GOOD DEFENSE
Entering Saturday night’s game against Wheeling, defenseman Willie Raskob has three goals in his last six games. Sitting in second place in the ECHL in goals among defensemen, Raskob is also tied for second place on the Fuel in power-play points.
STEPPING UP
With the Fuel team battling injuries and American Hockey League call-ups, new players have had to step up to the challenge. “Whether it’s Tommy Apap, Nick Hutchison, Dylan Malmquist or Zuhlsdorf on D, all these guys have done a really nice job stepping up and growing into roles,” said Doug Christiansen. “That bodes really well for our team down the stretch. By the same token, you look at the guys who are hurt, they’re impactful players. There’s no way you can count them out.”
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