Opening up the 2021-22 season, the Fuel face a Cincinnati Cyclones opponent that they saw twice in the preseason. Dropping the first game 4-1, the Fuel bounced back with a 6-4 win in which they scored three straight goals in the third period. Saturday’s contest will be the only game of the weekend for the Fuel before they turn around and head to Cincinnati on October 30th for their first road game of the year.
TIME: 7:00 p.m. ET
WATCH/LISTEN: FloSports, Mixlr.com/IndyFuel
TEAM RECORDS
IND: 0-0-0-0
CIN: 0-0-0-0
LAST TIME OUT
Closing out their pair of preseason games, the Indy Fuel hosted the Cincinnati Cyclones on Saturday, October 16. After trading goals throughout the 60 minutes, Indy would take a 6-4 win thanks to a three-goal third period that included a hat-trick by Brent Gates.
THE RIGHT FOUNDATION
Building off of last season’s success is something that Doug Christiansen has focused on when creating his 2021-22 roster. “We returned a good number of players from a good team last year. That gives us a nice foundation,” said Christiansen. They’ve really helped assimilate the new players. You bring new guys in, whether it’s from Rockford or a different organization, they’ve got the team feel already established.” The opening night roster features 14 players who appeared on the 2020-21 Indy Fuel roster. Having that large of a core can really give the Fuel an advantage when going into the new season.
SCORING IN TRANSITION
With a new assistant coach behind the bench in Duncan Dalmao, the Fuel have focused heavily on playing with pace and being quick in the transition game. “I think we’re going to play fast,” said Keoni Texeira. “I think we’re going to get to the net. I think our transition game is going to be quick and I think we’re going get a lot of scoring opportunities.” Scoring multiple goals on the rush in Saturday’s preseason game against Cincinnati, the Fuel were able to see what works against an opponent that they face in three out of their first six games.
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