KALAMAZOO- The Fuel headed to Kalamazoo for an evening New Year’s Eve game against the K-Wings. After being tied for two periods, the Fuel closed the game out in the third and took a 3-2 win.
1ST PERIOD
The first half of the first period went quickly as Indy racked up shots but neither team scored.
At 13:20 Joseph Arntsen took a high sticking penalty which resulted in a power play for the Fuel. Colin Bilek, who returned to the lineup tonight, capitalized for Indy and scored with the help of Ryan Gagnier and Bryan Lemos to make it 1-0.
Indy’s Bennett Stockdale took a delay of game penalty at 15:21, giving Kalamazoo their first power play chance of the game.
While the K-Wings did not score on the power play, at 18:21, Zach Okabe scored to tie the game 1-1.
At the end of the first period, the Fuel were outshooting the K-Wings 11-5.
2ND PERIOD
The first half of the second period was a lot like the first, with no goals or penalties. Instead, this time it was Kalamazoo who collected nine shots before the Fuel tallied one in the second frame.
At 11:00, Arntsen scored to give the K-Wings their first lead of the game, 2-1.
Cam Hausinger, who leads the Fuel in scoring, tied the game up at 2-2 with a goal at 14:51. Kevin Lombardi claimed the lone assist on that goal.
At 17:23, Ben Berard took a holding penalty to give the Fuel a power play chance but at 19:46, Darby Llewellyn took a tripping penalty to even it out.
Time expired without another score and the Fuel were outshooting the K-Wings 20-16.
3RD PERIOD
Again, the first half of the period went by quickly without much excitement.
Kevin Lombardi broke the tie with the help of Nathan Burke and Thomas Farrell at 8:24.
With about a minute to go, the K-Wings pulled their goaltender in favor of the extra skater. Despite putting pressure on, they could not score to tie the game again.
In the final game of 2024, the Fuel took a 3-2 win.
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