FUEL DEFEAT GRIZZLIES IN OVERTIME BATTLE

WEST VALLEY CITY- The Fuel continued their Thanksgiving week series in Utah on Friday night with their second game against the Grizzlies. Despite giving up the first goal, the Fuel took the 4-3 overtime victory over Utah.

1ST PERIOD

The Grizzlies got to a quick start, registering eight shots before the Fuel recorded one. Indy’s Colin Bilek took a tripping penalty at 1:02 which made that an easier feat for Utah. 

Indy killed off that penalty but at 4:51, the Grizzlies took a 1-0 lead anyway courtesy of Reed Lebster. 

At 9:45, Reed Morison took Utah’s first penalty of the game. The tripping penalty gave the Fuel a power play and at 10:52, Kevin Lombardi capitalized with the man-advantage. With the help of Nathan Burke and Bilek, Lombardi tied the game up 1-1. 

Utah’s Kade Jensen took a delay of game penalty at 14:17 to give the Fuel another power play opportunity. While Indy caught up in shots on the power play, they could not score and Utah killed it off. 

At 18:29, Gianni Fairbrother took a tripping penalty giving the Fuel another power play. Kyle Maksimovich took advantage of it with a goal at 19:32 to give Indy a 2-1 lead. Burke and Bryan Lemos claimed the assists on that goal. 

By the end of the period, Utah had outshot Indy 13-11 but the Fuel were up 2-1. 

2ND PERIOD

The Fuel got off to a hot start in the second period, quickly surpassing the Grizzlies in shots but neither team scored in the first half of the frame.

The first penalty of the period came at 12:28 when Indy’s Matus Spodniak sat for slashing after a scuffle in the neutral zone. 

That penalty was killed off but soon after, Utah tied the game at 2-2 with a goal by Cade Neilson at 15:18. 

At 15:43, Dilan Savenkov took Utah’s fourth penalty of the game. This one was for cross checking and resulted in the Fuel’s third power play goal. At 17:13, Cam Hausinger scored with the help of Adam McCormick and Ryan Gagnier to go up 3-2. 

Time expired on the second period soon after, and the Fuel were ahead 3-2 while outshooting Utah 20-19.

3RD PERIOD

Just over a minute into the third period, Jensen delivered a high hit to Hausinger, taking off his helmet which resulted in Lombardi taking on Jensen to retaliate. Both Jensen and Lombardi took offsetting double minor penalties for roughing. 

Things seemed to settle down after that, both teams having a few chances as time ticked down. 

At 11:36, the Fuel went back on the power play after Bilek was tripped by Mick Messner but the Grizzlies killed it off. 

Lebster scored his second goal of the game at 14:46 in the third period to tie the game 3-3. 

Things got progressively chippier between the two teams as time ticked down on regulation. The Fuel outshot the Grizzlies 31-22 through three periods but it wasn’t enough and the game headed to overtime. 

OVERTIME

Just 51 seconds into overtime, Lemos took an interference penalty forcing two minutes of 4-on-3 in Utah’s favor but the Fuel were able to kill it off. 

After a few good chances on both sides, it was Indy’s Ryan Gagnier who scored the overtime game winner with the help of Adam McCormick and Andrew Bellant. 

Ultimately, the Fuel won their second straight game over the Grizzlies 4-3 while outshooting them 33-25.

ABOUT THE INDY FUEL:

The Indy Fuel are the proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Chicago Blackhawks and the American Hockey League’s Rockford IceHogs. The Fuel will host their first home game of the 2024-25 season on December 6, 2024 against the Iowa Heartlanders. Information and tickets can be found HERE. 

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