FISHERS - The Fuel hosted the Cincinnati Cyclones on Friday night in the first of two games against them this weekend. After giving up a goal in the first two minutes of the game, The Fuel bounced back and took a 7-2 victory.

1ST PERIOD

Sam Stevens opened the scoring at 1:08 to put the Cyclones up 1-0 early. The goal was unassisted. 

Indy’s Jacob Leguerrier took the game’s first penalty at 4:24 for cross checking. This put Indy on the penalty kill until 5:12 when Cincinnati’s Elijah Vilio took an interference penalty. Both penalties were killed off. 

At 11:50, Kevin Lombardi took a delay of game penalty which put the Fuel back on the penalty kill. They killed it off. 

Brett Moravec scored at 14:11to tie the game up, 1-1. Harrison Israels and Lombardi claimed the assists on that goal. 

With 2:55 to go in the first period, Israels scored to give the Fuel a 2-1 lead. He claimed his second point of the night along with Lombardi who had the primary assist on that goal. Tyson Feist had the secondary assist. 

35 seconds later, Cincinnati’s Ryan Kirwan tied it up once more with a goal at 17:39.

The period ended with a score of 2-2 while the Fuel outshot the Cyclones, 12-7.

2ND PERIOD

Lombardi scored to give the Fuel a 3-2 lead at 10:46 with the help of Moravec and Leguerrier. 

After a review, what looked like a goal by Israels was called good at 12:43. This was his second goal of the game, making it 4-2 in favor of the Fuel. Defensemen Chris Cameron and Christian Berger had the two assists. 

At 13:30, Cincy’s Stevens took a penalty for holding. This put the Fuel on the power play once again but the Cyclones were able to kill it off.

At 16:57, Cincinnati’s Ryan McCleary and Lombardi each took a double minor for roughing. 

Less than a minute later, Jadon Joseph and Cincy’s Cole Fraser each took a minor roughing penalty too. 

At 18:01, another fight broke out and the Fuel ended up on a 4-on-3 power play when Stevens and Noel were called for roughing while only Indy’s Lee Lapid was called for roughing. 

By the end of the period, there was only one second remaining on those penalties, however there was another scuffle after the whistle. 

The Fuel led Cincinnati 4-2 after two periods while outshooting them 22-15.

3RD PERIOD

Fraser took another penalty to start the third period as a result of the fight after the second period ended. He was called for roughing, but did not stay in the box long as Indy’s Owen Robinson scored on the power play just 26 seconds in. This made it 5-2. 

At 1:57, it was Robinson who took a high sticking penalty, putting the Fuel back on the penalty kill. They killed it off successfully.

Lee Lapid made it 6-2 in favor of the Fuel with a goal at 8:55, assisted by Jesse Tucker and Feist.

Indy’s Michael Marchesan and Cincinnati’s Justin Portillo dropped the gloves right after a puck drop, each earning five minutes for fighting at 9:00. 

Leguerrier followed that up with a holding the stick penalty at 10:27 but all penalties were killed off. 

Zack Trott was called for high sticking at 16:45, giving the Fuel another power play chance. They quickly capitalized with a goal from Lombardi to make it 7-2. This was his second goal of the game, totaling four points on the night. Israels and Matt Petgrave had the assists. 

Ultimately, the Fuel outshot the Cyclones 29-21 while taking a dominant 7-2 win over them. 

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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