FISHERS - The Indy Fuel headed to Bloomington to take on the Bison on Friday night before returning home for their annual Teddy Bear Toss game on Saturday. After going down 3-0 early, the Fuel could not mount a comeback in time and ultimately fell 6-3. 

1ST PERIOD

Brenden Datema scored first for the Bloomington Bison at 4:36 to make it 1-0. Less than a minute later, after a collision in the Fuel’s goal, Owen Flores was replaced by Mitchell Weeks in net.

Bloomington captain Eddie Matsushima scored next, at 7:08, to make it 2-0 for the Bison. 

Fifty seconds later, Indy’s Jordan Martin was sent to the penalty box for high sticking, giving the Bison the first power play opportunity of the game. 

Ayden MacDonald capitalized at 9:23, scoring a power play goal to put Bloomington up 3-0 after Flores returned to net for the Fuel. 

 The Bison went back on the power play at 10:50 when Indy’s Michael Marchesan was called for hooking. 

At 12:17, Nikita Sedov took Bloomington’s first penalty of the game for cross checking. The Bison were able to kill off the penalty. 

Indy’s Kevin Lombardi put the Fuel on the board with a goal at 16:04. Tyson Feist and Harrison Israels had the assists on that goal to make it 3-1. 

The next penalty in the game was a hooking minor assessed to Jacob Leguerrier at 18:35 that would carry over into the second period as the Bison did not score before time expired.

At the end of the first frame, Bloomington was outshooting Indy 13-10. 

2ND PERIOD

The Fuel killed off the penalty to Leguerrier before Lombardi scored his second goal of the night to make it 3-2. He scored at 5:34 with the help of Feist and Israels yet again. 

At 9:41, Jordan Martin and Bloomington’s Parker Gavlas were each given five minutes for fighting after dropping the gloves in front of the Bison goaltender. 

About a minute later, Zakary Karpa extended the Bison’s lead to 4-2. 

The Fuel earned another power play chance at 13:45 when Brett Budgell headed to the penalty box for hooking. Bloomington was able to kill it off. 

At 18:06, Jesse Tucker and Cullen Ferguson exchanged roughing penalties to force 4-on-4 play that would last into the third period. 

Despite being down 4-2, Indy massively outshot Bloomington in the second period. Through two frames, the Fuel outshot the Bison 29-20. 

3RD PERIOD

Just two minutes into the third period, Bison goaltender Callum Tung left the game after a play left him in discomfort. Hugo Ollas replaced him in net. 

At 4:31, Jadon Joseph was called for hooking while Bloomington’s Budgell was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. This forced more 4-on-4 hockey until Lombardi joined Joseph in the box 53 seconds later for a slashing call. 

Matsushima scored his second goal of the game on the power play at 6:25 to make it 5-2 after Tung returned to net for the Bison. 

Israels scored at 9:06 to make it 5-3. With the assists going to Lombardi and Feist, those three officially connected for three points each on the night.

Indy kept the pressure on but Tung stood strong in net. With just under three minutes to go in the third period, the Fuel pulled Flores from net in favor of the extra skater but Lou-Félix Denis scored on the empty net at 17:47 to make it 6-3. 

That is how the game would end, but not before Mikael Robidoux and Marchesan each earned two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct with less than thirty seconds to go in the game after dropping the gloves but not fully engaging in a fight. 

With a final score of 6-3, the Fuel outshot Bloomington 38-27 and will return to Indy to face the Cincinnati Cyclones tomorrow night.

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 have returned to Fishers Event Center for their 12th season. Information and tickets can be found HERE.

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