FORT WAYNE- The Indy Fuel played the second game of the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs against Fort Wayne on Saturday night. After going down one game on Friday, the Fuel fell 5-1 to the Komets on Saturday.

1ST PERIOD

Cody Laskosky opened the scoring at 6:39 to give the Fuel a 1-0 lead, which was their first lead of the series. Trevor Zins and Jordan Martin claimed the assists on that goal. 

Jalen Smereck and Jadon Joseph each were given two minutes for roughing at 8:50, forcing some 4-on-4 hockey but neither team scored. 

Trevor Janicke sat for slashing at 12:31, giving Indy the first power play of the game. Fort Wayne was able to kill off the penalty. 

At the end of the first period, the Fuel led 1-0 while outshooting the Komets, 19-5. 

2ND PERIOD

The Komets earned a power play after Jadon Joseph was called for tripping at 1:21. That penalty was killed off just before Indy gave up an even-strength goal to Reece Harsch to make it 1-1.

Fort Wayne took a 2-1 lead when Matthew Brown scored at 5:16. 

At 6:08, Christian Berger and Brady Stonehouse each earned two minute penalties for roughing. Berger was also assessed a tripping minor that would be served by Laskosky. 

Jordan Martin took the game’s next penalty at 11:04 for cross checking to put the Komets back on the power play but the Fuel were able to kill it off. 

The next penalty of the game was given to Matt Petgrave who sat in the penalty box for hooking at 17:39. 

The Fuel killed off that penalty before time expired in the second period. Fort Wayne outshot Indy 19-12 in that period alone. The Komets headed into the locker room with a 3-1 lead.

3RD PERIOD

Fuel captain Chris Cameron took Indy’s fifth consecutive penalty for tripping at 9:29. This put the Komets on the power play, which they quickly capitalized on. Zach Bookman scored on the power play to put the Komets up 4-1. 

At 12:45, Smereck was awarded a penalty shot which Mitchell Weeks stopped in Indy’s net. This kept the score at 4-1 before Fort Wayne’s Austin Magera took the game’s next penalty. 

Magera headed to the penalty box at 13:17 for hooking. This put the Fuel on the power play for the second time in the game. This became a 5-on-3 chance as Dru Krebs joined Magera in the penalty box for tripping. Both of those penalties were killed.

Stonehouse scored with just 31 seconds remaining in regulation to make it 5-1 for the Komets. After the final horn sounded, both teams engaged in a few fights all over the ice, the intense rivalry coming to a boil after back-to-back games. Reece Harsch of the Komets and Indy’s Tucker, Paquette, and Weiss were all given multiple penalties at the 20-minute mark. 

These two teams will meet again on Tuesday, April 28 when the Komets visit Indy for the third game in this playoff series.

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.

Don’t forget to follow the Fuel on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube for news, updates, contests, and much more.

--INDYFUELHOCKEY.COM--