Friday, February 14th, Fuel 3, Fort Wayne 5

On Valentine’s Day, The Fuel once again jumped out to a lead, forcing an early defensive turnover. The puck found Bobby MacIntrye who turned on the afterburners en route to the game’s first goal.

MAC N CHEESE SCORESSSSSS

Bobby MacIntyre makes one stick and the Fuel are up 1-0! pic.twitter.com/eeLAjWA5zR

— Indy Fuel (@IndyFuel) February 15, 2020

MacIntrye was not done scoring in the first period, though. He found Derian Plouffe for the easy tap in goal to increase the Fuel lead to 2—0.

In the second period, Spencer Watson weaseled himself some space on the right circle and blasted a wrister for the 3—0 lead. That was the last lead of the game for the Fuel. Indy had been playing with fire whole game and they finally got burned in the third period.

The flood gates did not open until 7:37 gone by in the third period. The Komets’ Olivier Galipeau snuck in a shot from the point for their first goal. Less than a minute later the onslaught continued as Max Gottlieb blasted a shot in from the blue for the Komets second goal. With the momentum firmly in their corner, Shawn Szydlowski smacked a one-timer from the left circle, mid-way through the third period.

After the Fuel committed a penalty, Anthony Petruzzell delivered the back breaker from the left circle to give the Komets their first lead. The Komets did not relinquish the lead and tacked on an empty-net goal for good measure, outshooting the Fuel 43—19 in the contest.

The Fuel collapse was reminiscent of the Chicago Blackhawks’ collapse against the St. Louis Blues. on December 14th, 2019. Both teams blew three-goal leads in their respective games.

Saturday, February 15th, Fuel 2, Cincinnati 5

After suffering through their own version of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, the Fuel looked to rebound against the Cyclones.  To quote Aerosmith, ” It’s the same old story, same old song, and dance, my friend”. After a scoreless first period, the Fuel had two power-play opportunities to break open the scoring haze, unfortunately, Indy came up empty.

After failing to score, Cincinnati seized an opportunity and took a 1—0 lead. Luckily for the Fuel, the Cyclones went back to the penalty box two more times in the second period and on both occasions Indy made them pay.

The Fuel’s first goal was scored by Alex Krushelnyski on juicy rebound surrendered by the Cyclones. After drawing another penalty, the Fuel once again capitalized on a juicy rebound, this time it was Derian Plouffe.

Go to the net good things happen kids pic.twitter.com/r26BbxNQuO

— Indy Fuel (@IndyFuel) February 16, 2020

Sadly the Fuel lead did not last long as the Cyclones’ Cody Milan got a pass in the deep slot and buried to tie the game. With the game tied, Cincy’s Jesse Schultz capitalized on an Indy turnover for the game-winner. Cincy tapped in another late empty-net goal to finish off the Fuel 5—3.

Sunday, February 16th, Fuel 5, Cincinnati 6

An Indy comeback was thwarted due to the lack of time, in their final contest of the weekend as they once again took on the Cincinnati Cyclones. After falling to the Cyclones 5—3 in the previous contest, the Fuel looked to get off to a good start. That good start came courtesy of Joe Sullivan. Sullivan received a pass from  Ryan Van Stralen deep in the creased and slammed it home for the game’s first goal.

The lead was later extended by Cliff Watson. Watson fired a puck from just inside the blue line for the Fuel’s second goal of the game.

FUEL POWER PLAY GOALLLLLL

Cliff Watson finds the back of the net to make it a 2-0 game with 5:48 left to go! pic.twitter.com/85dP6MaMJm

— Indy Fuel (@IndyFuel) February 16, 2020

Cincy answered the Watson goal with one of their own from defenseman Tobie Bisson. Bisson slapped a shot from the high slot past Indy goaltender Charles Williams. The first period ended with the Fuel up 2—1.

Unfortunately, the second period was a different story for the Fuel, as Cincinnati exploded for three goals in a little over five minutes. Mason Mitchell fired the puck past Williams for the second Cincy goal. The third Cincy goal was scored by Nate Mitton after corralling a wrap-around pass from Brady Vail. The fourth Cyclones goal in the period came from Pascal Aquin. He snuck a shot past Williams for a two-goal lead. Bobby MacIntrye brought the Fuel somewhat closer with a top-shelf goal of his own, but Brady Vail racked up his second point of the game with another goal.

With the lead at 5—3, the Cyclones looked to be close to snuffing out the Fuel but Indy wasn’t done just yet and attempted to mount a comeback.

First, Spencer Watson tipped in his 27th goal of the season with ten minutes to play to cut the lead to just one goal. Three minutes later, veteran wing Jesse Schultz chipped in the final Cincy goal of the night to extend the Cyclones lead to 6—4. Indy’s Josh McArdle knifed the puck into the net with less than five minutes remaining, however, the Fuel eventually fell 6—5.

The Fuel name Craig Wyszomirski Captain.

The team announced that Craig Wyszomirski will serve as the new team captain. Wyszormiski joined the Fuel in November after splitting time with the ECHL Manchester Monarchs and both the AHL’s Utica Comets and Ontario Reign. He has appeared in 24 games with the Fuel this season. 

Fuel Dump:

• Forward Jay Dickman was traded to the Wichita Thunder in exchange for future considerations. 
• Left wing Bobby McIntyre has scored five goals in his last six games.
• This is the first time Indy has lost three in a row since December 27th through the 29th.
• Center Mathieu Foget has three goals and 10 assists in his 13 games with the Fuel since being acquired from the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on January 20th.

The Fuel will return to action on Friday, February 21st  against the Kalamazoo Wings.

The post The Fuel Tank: Indy goes winless on Valentines Day weekend appeared first on The Rink.

Matt Tomkins got the starting call for the Fuel. Tomkins entered the matchup with a 16-11-2 record along with a 3.08 goals-against-average and a .907 save percentage.

At the other end, Michael Houser got the start for the Cyclones. Houser stepped onto the Indiana Farmers Coliseum ice with a 13-2-3 record alongside an astounding 1.78 goals-against-average and a .936 save percentage.

FUEL STARTING LINEUP

Radovan Bondra-Quentin Shore-Kevin Dufour

Robert Powers-Alex Brooks

Matt Tomkins

An eventful first period got started with a Cyclones goal by former Fuel forward Alex Wideman. He wired one past Tomkins on the first shot of the game to give Cincinnati an early 1-0 lead.

A mere 34 seconds later, Matt Rupert tipped home his team-leading 17^th of the season on the power play.

A minute and a half after the Matt Rupert goal, Justin Vaive roofed a shot in close on Tomkins on Cincinnati’s second shot of the game. His 15^th of the season re-took a one-goal lead for the Cyclones.

Spencer Dorowicz was the next goal scorer for the Cincinnati club. His fifth of the season put the Cyclones up 3-1 in the first period.

Logan Nelson continued a four-game goal streak with a puck that deflected off his torso and into the net for the Fuel’s second power play goal of the night. That was the lone strike of the second period.

Ryan Rupert tied the game for the Fuel in the third period, scoring while sliding into the net. Matt Rupert and Nelson got the assists on the tying tally.

The game wasn’t solved in 65 minutes, so it was taken to a shootout, where Mike Marnell scored for Cincinnati. All three Fuel shooters were stopped, and the Cyclones won 4-3 in Indy.

Quotebook

Matt Rupert on his line clicking: “I think it’s a little bit of luck. A lot of hard work in practice. A little bit of both, really. We work hard every game and sometimes the puck doesn’t come to us but this whole weekend it showed. The puck’s been coming our way and we’ve been getting good bounces.”

Bernie John on coming back from 3-1 down: “I thought we played well the whole game. Maybe we deserved a little bit better. Overall, it was a good performance. This is the top team in the league. They’ve got 12 guys under [AHL] contracts. Our guys battled. A bit of injuries and we’ve got some SPHL guys but they’re all playing the right way. We’re getting pucks north and putting some pressure on them and we’ve got to find a way to go win more.”

By The Numbers

17 – Number of goals for Matt Rupert and Kevin Dufour (team-lead)

3 – Number of overtime games in the past five games

Injury Report

Forward Olivier Labelle is expected to be out for an extended period with a neck injury suffered on Dec. 27 against Wheeling. He is continuing to be evaluated by doctors.

I have not yet received word on defenseman Miles Liberati.

The post Recap: Fuel Fall in Shootout to Central Division-Leading Cyclones appeared first on The Rink.

7:35 PM Eastern

Indiana Farmers Coliseum

Watch Live: ECHL.TV

Team Statistics:

Power Play

Indy (15.6%, T-20th)

Cincinnati (12.7%, T-25th)

Penalty Kill

Indy (85.4%, T-6^th)

Cincinnati (86.4%, 1^st)

Shots For/Against Per Game

Indy (28.36, 26^th – 32.56, 18^th)

Cincinnati (30.66, 21^st – 28.26, 4^th)

Shooting%

Indy (11.4%, 5^th)

Cincinnati (12.4%, 2^nd)

Avg. Height/Weight

Indy – 6’1”, 194 lbs

Cincinnati – 6’0”, 191 lbs

Analysis:

The Indy Fuel are riding into Indiana Farmers Coliseum with a 3-2 overtime win over the Fort Wayne Komets last night.

The line of Matt Rupert, Ryan Rupert, and Logan Nelson accounted for all three Indy goals last night. All three forwards put the puck in the back of the net last night, with Matt Rupert netting the game winner in overtime.

The Cincinnati Cyclones are on a five-game point streak, including a 4-1 win over the Kalamazoo Wings last night. Forwards Mike Marnell and Justin Vaive each recorded a goal and an assist in the Cyclones’ victory.

The Fuel are 3-2 this season against the second-place Cyclones. All three wins for the Fuel against Cincinnati this season have come at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. The lone home loss for the Fuel against the Cyclones was a 3-0 shutout loss on Nov. 23.

Players To Watch

Indy: Logan Nelson

Nelson is currently on a three-game goal streak, tallying his sixth, seventh, and eighth goals of the season during his streak. Nelson has three assists in four games against Cincinnati this season.

Cincinnati: Myles Powell

Powell has six points in his last five games and eight points in his last eight games. In four games against the Fuel, Powell has three goals and a +2 rating.

The post PREVIEW: Indy Fuel vs. Cincinnati Cyclones (01/19/19) appeared first on The Rink.

Jonas Johansson got the start at the other end for the Cyclones. Johansson came into the game red-hot, leading the Cincinnati club to points in his last six starts. He boasted a 10-3-1-2 record to go with two shutouts coming into Friday’s match. He also had a 2.53 goals-against-average and a .913 save percentage.

FUEL STARTING LINEUP

Matt Rupert-Ryan Rupert-Logan Nelson

Neil Manning-Alex Brooks

Matt Tomkins

A fast-paced first period got started early as former Indy Fuel forward Alex Wideman got the scoring started for the Cyclones 8:30 in. He took a drop pass from defenseman Arvin Atwal and sniped it over Tomkins’ right shoulder to give Cincinnati an early 1-0 lead.

Less than four minutes later, Quentin Shore sniped one bar down on a pass from Brett Welychka to tie the game at one for Indy.

A minute and a half later, Radovan Bondra dangled around a Cincinnati defender and fed a pass to Matt Rupert where he shot his 12^th goal of the season over the shoulder of Johansson to give the Fuel a one-goal lead.

Just over two minutes in, Welychka was able to sneak past the Cyclones defense and slip the puck through Johansson’s pads on a breakaway to give the Fuel a two-goal lead.

Jesse Schultz’s ninth of the season came 7:05 into the period on a feed from Wideman to cut the Fuel lead back down to 3-2.

Ryan Rupert added two goals himself in the third period to seal a 5-2 victory for the Fuel over the league-leading Cyclones.

Quotebook

Welychka on the Fuel’s three-game winning streak and momentum moving forward: “Any time you put a couple wins together, it’s definitely huge, especially in the locker room. The mentality and morale in the room changes completely. Any individual and athlete will tell you that. I think our leaders and our core group do a good job of not letting us get too antsy and just try to keep humble and chip away at it.”

Fuel head coach Bernie John on trying to finish the homestand 3-0: “Obviously, it’s big. The crowds have been phenomenal the last two nights and I know it’s going to be phenomenal again tomorrow. It’d be nice to be able to give them some smiles to go home with. We know it’s going to be hard work. We know Brampton’s got a good offensive hockey team, they’ve got some skill and they’re going to be hungry. They suffered a loss in Toledo the other night, so they’re going to be ready to go. We’ve got to play the same way and not change anything. I liked our depth tonight. The Thompson line doesn’t score but then the Shore line scores a couple and Rupert’s line scored a couple. That’s how we’re going to win, everybody’s got to contribute.”

By The Numbers

5 – Number of consecutive five-goal outings for the Fuel

26 – Point totals of Kevin Dufour, Olivier Labelle, and Josh Shalla; all three are tied for the team lead in points

The post RECAP: Ryan Rupert scores two, Fuel defeat first-place Cyclones 5-2 appeared first on The Rink.

Team Statistics:
Power Play
Indy (14.6%, 21st)
Cincinnati (13.1%, 23rd)

Penalty Kill
Indy (82.8%, T-17^th)
Cincinnati (88.0%, 1^st)

Shots For/Against Per Game
Indy (27.96, 26th – 32.82, 17th)
Cincinnati (31.34, 18th – 28.93, 5th)

Shooting%
Indy (11.9%, T-3^rd)
Cincinnati (12.0%, 2^nd)

Avg. Height/Weight
Indy – 6’1”, 194 lbs
Cincinnati – 6’0”, 191 lbs

Analysis:

The Indy Fuel are entering the second game of a three-game home stand with a 5-2 win over the red-hot Wheeling Nailers the night before. That was the club’s fourth straight five-goal outing.

Kevin Dufour recorded his third straight multi-goal game on Thursday with two goals, while Olivier Labelle, Alex Brooks, and Neil Manning added two points to their stat lines.

The Fuel are 2-2-0-0 against the Cyclones this year. This will be the third matchup between the two clubs in Indiana this year. Cincinnati has yet to win a game against the Fuel in Indy this season.

In their first meeting this year, the Fuel defeated Cincinnati 4-1 at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Matt Tomkins made 39 saves in that matchup. The last time out against the Cyclones, goaltender Jonas Johansson shutout the Fuel 3-0 on Indy’s home ice. That was the Fuel’s first time being shutout in over two years.

The Fuel have another tough task on Friday as the Cyclones are currently leading the ECHL with a 20-5-2-2 record. Two of the five Cincinnati regulation losses have come from the hands of the Fuel, though.

This is the Cyclones’ first game since before the holiday break. In their last outing, they defeated the Allen Americans 4-3, led by a 48 save performance by Johansson.

Cyclones forward Vasili Glotov was called up by the AHL’s Rochester Americans on Wednesday. Glotov is one of the hottest rookies in the ECHL so far this season and one of Cincinnati’s leading scorers, with 21 points in 29 games. The 21-year-old Russian scored the game-winner for the Ohio club in their last game against the Americans. The center is also one of Cincinnati’s leading scorers against Indy this season, with four assists in four games against the Fuel.

Players To Watch

Indy: Kevin Dufour

The 26-year-old has been on fire lately, tallying nine points (7G, 2A) in his last five games. The Quebec native is also the Fuel’s leading scorer against the Cyclones this season, with a goal and three assists in three games.

Dufour is now tied with Labelle for the team-lead in points (26) and leads the team in goals (16). Dufour’s 16 goals is tied for fifth in the ECHL.

Cincinnati: Brady Vail

Vail is second on the Cyclones in points (27) and is tied with Justin Vaive for the team lead in goals (12). The four-year ECHL veteran is on a four-game point streak, tallying four points in that span.

The product of Hendersonville, North Carolina is Cincinnati’s leading scorer against the Fuel this season with three goals and two assists in four games.

The post PREVIEW: Indy Fuel vs. Cincinnati Cyclones appeared first on The Rink.