BLOOMINGTON- The Fuel traveled to Bloomington, Illinois for their first ever regular season matchup with the Bison in their inaugural season. After two scoreless periods, the Fuel defeated the Bison 2-0.
1ST PERIOD
Indy got off to a quick start with a lot of shots early in the first period but it was the Fuel with the first penalty of the game. Colin Bilek sat at 7:02 for interference but it was killed off.
Bloomington’s Gavin Gould took a slashing penalty at 11:05 of the first period to give the Fuel their first power play of the game, however the Bison killed that penalty off as well.
The momentum shifted in the Bison’s favor toward the end of the period but the first frame ended with no score. Indy outshot Bloomington, 9-4.
2ND PERIOD
At 4:26, Indy’s Nick Grima took a hooking penalty that gave the Bison another power play chance. Indy was able to kill off that penalty though.
As time ticked down on the second period, the Fuel began putting on even more pressure. They had a few good chances but still could not break the 0-0 tie.
By the end of the second period, the Fuel were outshooting Bloomington 20-11.
3RD PERIOD
The first half of the third period moved quickly but at 8:14, things got chippy as Eddie Matsushima took a goaltender interference penalty alongside Max Neill and Indy’s Cam Hausinger who were given roughing penalties.
Those penalties offset as Hausinger’s was a double minor but it didn’t matter as Nathan Burke scored for the Fuel to break the 0-0 tie at 8:52. Bryan Lemos and Andrew Bellant had the assists on that goal.
At 10:21, Jalen Luypen took a roughing penalty as the chippiness between both teams continued. The Bison headed to the power play with momentum.
The Fuel were able to kill off that penalty before Luypen scored at 14:03 with the help of Kyle Maksimovich and Bilek.
With about three minutes to go, Bloomington pulled Sinclair from goal in favor of the extra skater but it did not help them as they could not score. Indy had a few attempts at an empty net goal but could not add to their 2-0 lead. Ultimately, the Fuel shutout the Bloomington Bison, 2-0 while outshooting them 29-22.
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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