Rush Sneak Past Fuel in Overtime

RAPID CITY - Playing the first of four games in five days, the Indy Fuel visited the Rapid City Rush at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Both teams would score eight goals throughout regulation eventually forcing overtime. Jumping on a rebound in the overtime, Rapid City’s Peter Quenneville gave the Rush a 5-4 win in the first of the four games this week. 

After a fire wagon start for both teams, the Rush would be the first team to get on the board when a deflected shot by Avery Peterson trickled through the fivehole of Fuel goaltender Billy Christopoulos. Indy’s Matt Marcinew would attempt a response by crashing the net but referee Sean MacFarlane would call it no goal after the net came off it’s moorings before the puck crossed the goal line. Immediately following the official’s review, Jared Thomas fired a wrist shot off of the faceoff over the shoulder of David Tendeck. 

Giving up a long 5-on-3 power play to start the second period, Indy would kill off the initial penalty, springing Chris Martenet on an odd-man rush. Martenet streaked down the sideboards and threw a puck on net that deflected past Tendeck. 

The Rush would respond to Indy’s goal just over 90 seconds later when Cedric Montminy tucked a puck past Fuel goaltender Billy Christopoulos. The referees would review the goal for goaltender interference but would ultimately uphold the call, tying the game 2-2. After back and forth play from both teams, Rapid City took the lead when Coulter fed Hunter Garlent on a 2-on-1 to make the score 3-2. 

Taking advantage of strong offensive pressure, Rapid City’s Cedric Montminy jumped on a loose puck and fired it past Christopoulos. Indy’s Cliff Watson cut the Rush lead in half when he put home a rebound off of a shot by Nick Hutchison. After 40 minutes of hockey, Rapid City took a 4-3 lead into the locker room. 

After Rapid City controlled play to start the final stanza, Indy picked up a power play where they would put two shots on the net that would be fought off by Tendeck. The Fuel would eventually breakthrough with six minutes remaining when Willie Raskob deflected a wrist shot by Michael Pelech to tie the game 4-4. Neither team would be able to break the tie through the remainder of the game, sending the teams to a seven-minute overtime period. 

Jumping on a Fuel turnover in overtime, Hunter Garland got alone on a breakaway and hit the post. Rapid City’s Peter Quenneville hopped on the rebound and tucked it past Christopoulos to give the Rush a 5-4 win in overtime. 

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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