FUEL COME BACK TO DEFEAT CINCINNATI IN A SHOOTOUT

INDIANAPOLIS - In the final road trip of the season, the Indy Fuel visited the Cincinnati Cyclones on Friday night. Coming back from a 3-1 deficit in the third period, the Fuel would go on to defeat the Cyclones in their first shootout win of the season. 

Taking advantage of a foot race :15 games into the game, Justin Vaive beat a Fuel defenseman and chipped the puck over the shoulder of Mitch Gillam to take an early 1-0 lead. Responding six minutes into the period, Seamus Malone tallied his 21st goal of the season when he fired a wrist shot over the shoulder of Sean Bonar. 

After earning an early power play, Josh Passolt would give the Cyclones a 2-1 lead when he tapped home a rebound past Gillam. Referee Logan Gruhl would review the goal for goaltender interference and would eventually rule that there was no interference and award the goal. Indy would have two chances on the power play during the second period but would be unable to get anything going. Justin Vaive would give the Cyclones a 3-1 lead with a minute left in the period when he pounced on a rebound and jammed it under a sprawling Gillam. 

Earning a power play early in the third period, the Fuel’s Darien Craighead would feed Jared Thomas a pass and he would one-time it into the net for his 19th goal of the season. Tying the game with 7:12 remaining in the period, Bryan Lemos got behind the Cincinnati defense and wristed a puck through the fivehole of Bonar. 

Giving the Fuel a 4-3 lead, Chris Van Os-Shaw picked up a loose puck in front of Bonar and chipped it into the net. Taking advantage of a 5-on-3 power play, Patrick Polino jammed home a rebound off of Mitch Gillam, tying the game at four goals each. 

Neither team would score in the remaining minutes sending the game to a seven-minute overtime period. After both teams traded chances in overtime, nobody would score, sending the game to a shootout. Both Cincinnati players would fail to beat Mitch Gillam and Darien Craighead and Jared Thomas would both score, giving the Fuel a 5-4 win on Friday night. 

Various ticket options are now on sale for the Fuel’s 8th 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 2021-22 season. 

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