FUEL SWEEP WEEKEND IN NORFOLK AS GRAY EARNS FIRST SHUTOUT

NORFOLK- The Fuel finished off their weekend in Norfolk with the final game of a three game set against the Admirals. After taking the first two wins of the weekend, Indy completed the sweep with a 4-0 shutout over Norfolk with Cam Gray in net.

1ST PERIOD

The first half of the period went by very quickly with very minimal whistles but at 11:47, the Fuel got the first power play of the game with a slashing call on Matt Ustaski.

At 18:29, the Fuel headed to the power play after a high stick and a scuffle between teams resulted in five minor penalties in total. Indy did not score before time expired, however the power play would carry over to the second frame. 

At the end of the first period, Indy was outshooting Norfolk 8-7.

2ND PERIOD

After killing off the remainder of that penalty, both teams went back and forth a bit before Owen Norton was called for high sticking at 3:35, giving the Fuel another power play opportunity. 

They were able to capitalize on it this time with a goal by Cam Hillis, who scored twice in last night’s matchup too, to put Indy up 1-0. Bryan Lemos and Brandon Schultz both claimed assists on that goal. 

At 7:38, Schultz got on the board himself with a goal from right in front of the net to extend the Fuel’s lead to 2-0. Hillis claimed his thirtieth assist of the season on this goal along with Colin Bilek who collected the secondary assist.

Bilek took a hooking call at 10:20 to put the Fuel on the penalty kill for the first time this game, however the Admirals killed it off.

Darick Louis-Jean sent Indy back to the power play at 17:14 with a holding penalty. This resulted in a goal from Santino Centorame to make it 3-0 Fuel before heading back to the locker room one last time. 

3RD PERIOD

Things got off to a quick start in the final frame as Hillis scored his fourth goal in two days just forty seconds into the period. Schultz collected his third point of the game with an assist along with Centorame who earned his second. 

About a minute after that, things finally came to a head between these two teams who have played three straight games against each other and Chris Cameron headed to the locker room after earning a fighting major and a game misconduct. This gave the Admirals a long power play, however things continued to stay chippy. 

At 3:24, McLean took a cross checking penalty after multiple hits on Fuel players. Then a minute after that, Andrew Perrott and Mark Liwiski earned a pair of roughing minors with Perrott earning an additional roughing minor too. 

Once the fighting started, it seems like it didn’t stop. With 9:06 to go, game play started again after a long pause to sort out sixty penalty minutes across both teams that saw Centorame, Perrott, Liwiski, and Norfolk’s Kubicek getting game misconduct calls. 

At 18:08, Bilek headed back to the box for holding, giving Norfolk the power play opportunity to end the period. With a push to get one goal on the board, the Admirals stormed the net which resulted in a goal review but there was no score. 

A minute later, the Fuel celebrated as not only did they sweep the weekend in Norfolk and shutout the Admirals today but it was goaltender Cam Gray’s first professional shutout in the books. The Fuel head back to Indy in fourth place in the Central division with a chance to climb the rankings quickly after gaining huge momentum this weekend.

The Indy Fuel are back in action at Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Wednesday, January 10, 2024 for Wednesday Night Hockey. Tickets are available HERE. 

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