FUEL DEFEATS THUNDER IN FRONT OF SOLD OUT CROWD ON SATURDAY

FISHERS- The Fuel hosted the Wichita Thunder for the first of two games this weekend against the Mountain division team. In front of a sold out crowd of 6,590 fans on Indy 500 Night powered by Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which took place 78 days out from "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" on Memorial Day weekend, the Fuel defeated the Wichita Thunder 4-3.

1ST PERIOD

Dillon Boucher opened the scoring for Wichita at 2:50 to make it 1-0 in favor of the visiting team. 

About two minutes later, Brett Bulmer scored with the help of Kevin Lynch to tie the game at 1-1 before the five minute mark. 

At 11:15, Jesse Tucker scored his first professional goal to make it 2-1. 

After the first period, the Fuel were outshooting Wichita 15-5. 

2ND PERIOD

While Logan Neaton started the game in goal for the Fuel, Ben Gaudreau took to the crease in the second frame.

Kyle Maksimovich scored at 2:09 to give Indy a 3-1 lead. Bryan Lemos and Lucas Brenton had the assists on that goal. 

At 5:17, Nathan Burke took a tripping penalty, giving the Thunder the first power play of the game but Indy killed it off.

Kale Howarth took the game’s next penalty at 16:25 with a double minor for high sticking. 

Wichita’s Peter Bates immediately capitalized with a goal at 16:33 to make it 3-2. 

Time expired soon after with Indy outshooting Wichita 25-11. 

3RD PERIOD

At 2:55, Indy’s Ty Farmer took a holding penalty but Wichita could not score. 

About a minute later, the Thunder earned a penalty shot after a slashing call on Victor Hadfield, but Gaudreau stopped Kobe Walker’s shot and the score remained 3-2 in favor of the Fuel.

Kale Howarth took his second penalty of the game at 5:21, this time for hooking. The Fuel killed it off. 

At 9:20, Carter Jones took a holding penalty but the Thunder killed that off as well. 

Kevin Lynch scored for Indy at 12:11 with the help of Matus Spodniak and Lucas Brenton to make it 4-2. 

With 6:27 to go in regulation, Bulmer was in on goal but ended up with a roughing minor penalty and five minutes for fighting along with Wichita’s Nolan Kneen who also got five for fighting after some extracurriculars behind the net.

T.J. Lloyd made it a one-goal game with a score at 16:43 assisted by Jones and Boucher.

With about a minute left, Wichita pulled their goaltender in favor of the extra skater and the Thunder put the pressure on but could not score before time expired and the Fuel could claim the 4-3 victory. 

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 are now playing at the new Fishers Event Center. Information and tickets can be found HERE. 

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