7:35 PM Eastern

Indiana Farmers Coliseum

Watch Live: ECHL.TV

Team Statistics:

Power Play

Indy (16.9%, 15th)

Fort Wayne (15.1%, 22nd)

Penalty Kill

Indy (86.2%, T-1^st)

Fort Wayne (82.7%, T-14^th)

Shots For/Against Per Game

Indy (28.46, 26^th – 32.56, 18^th)

Fort Wayne (30.93, 20^th – 30.18, 8^th)

Shooting%

Indy (11.2%, 5^th)

Fort Wayne (10.3%, 13^th)

Avg. Height/Weight

Indy – 6’1”, 193 lbs

Fort Wayne – 6’1”, 199 lbs

Analysis:

The Indy Fuel are returning to Indiana Farmers Coliseum following a 4-2 loss to the Cincinnati Cyclones at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati.

Josh Shalla recorded the only two tallies for the Fuel in the game, scoring twice on the man advantage. Logan Nelson, Kevin Dufour, Mathew Thompson, and Quentin Shore also recorded assists on both Shalla goals.

Forward Olivier Labelle is expected to miss his 12^th straight game with a neck injury, while defenseman Miles Liberati is also projected to miss his seventh straight game with an undisclosed injury.

The Fort Wayne Komets are entering tonight’s matchup on a four-game losing streak. Their most recent game was a shootout loss at the hands of the Toledo Walleye at the Huntington Center in Toledo. The Komets’ goal scoring came from J.C. Campagna and Marco Roy. Roy recorded a goal and an assist, while forward Brady Shaw added two assists.

The Fuel are 2-4-1 against Fort Wayne this season. Indy most recently defeated the Komets 3-2 in overtime in Fort Wayne on Jan. 18. Matt Rupert tallied the overtime winner for the Fuel, while also adding two assists. All three goals came from the Matt Rupert, Ryan Rupert, and Nelson line, with all three striking for Indy.

Fort Wayne’s leading point scorer Justin Hodgman was placed on Injured Reserve yesterday, retroactive to Jan. 12. Hodgman recently skated in the 2019 ECHL All-Star Game as the captain of the Western Conference All-Stars on Jan. 21. The 30-year-old forward is also the Komets’ leading scorer against the Fuel this season with seven points in six games.

Players To Watch

Indy: Matt Rupert, Ryan Rupert, and Logan Nelson

Matt Rupert has tallied six points in his last four games. His line consisting of himself, Ryan Rupert, and Nelson has 17 points and 34 shots on goal in those four games. Nelson is also on a five-game point streak with four goals and two assists in that span. The Minnesota native tallied a goal in four of those five games. Ryan Rupert has two goals and three assists in his last four games.

Fort Wayne: Marco Roy

Roy is tied for the Komets’ lead in points (5) against the Fuel with Hodgman out of the lineup. He is also on a five-game point streak. In that span, he has registered two goals and five assists. It will be interesting to see if the Komets’ offense can continue its firepower it has shown this season without its leading point scorer and All-Star out of the lineup.

The post PREVIEW: Indy Fuel vs. Fort Wayne Komets (01/25/19) appeared first on The Rink.

7:35 PM Eastern

Indiana Farmers Coliseum

Watch Live: ECHL.TV

Team Statistics:

Power Play

Indy (15.8%, T-17th)

Fort Wayne (15.7%, T-19th)

Penalty Kill

Indy (84.8%, 10^th)

Fort Wayne (85.5%, 7^th)

Shots For/Against Per Game

Indy (27.94, 27^th – 32.71, 17^th)

Fort Wayne (30.15, 21^st – 28.76, T-5^th)

Shooting%

Indy (11.9%, T-3^rd)

Fort Wayne (10.0%, 16^th)

Avg. Height/Weight

Indy – 6’1”, 195 lbs

Fort Wayne – 6’1”, 200 lbs

Analysis:

The Indy Fuel are entering Friday’s game coming off a 4-2 win over the Kansas City Mavericks on Tuesday. Fuel goaltender Matt Tomkins was riding a shutout until the 17:41 mark of the third period. Kansas City added another goal with 11 seconds remaining in the game, when afterwards, Tomkins broke his stick on the crossbar.

Radovan Bondra was one of three multi-point performers in Tuesday’s game. Bondra tallied three assists, while Quentin Shore recorded a goal and two assists and Josh Shalla added a goal and an assist. Mathew Thompson and Brett Welychka also netted a goal each to round out the scoring for Indy.

The Komets ousted the Fuel in their last matchup 3-2 in Fort Wayne on Jan. 5. This also happened to be the last game the Komets have participated in. The Fuel are 1-4 this season against the Komets and 12-26-3-4 all-time.

Players To Watch

Indy: Matheson Iacopelli

Iacopelli has returned to the Fuel, after being sent down to Indy from the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs on Wednesday. The winger appeared in ten games with the Fuel last season, recording nine goals and an assist in that span. In 25 games this season with the IceHogs, the 24-year-old has tallied two goals and two assists.

Fort Wayne: Justin Hodgman

Hodgman is Fort Wayne’s leading scorer against the Fuel this year. In five games, he has recorded three goals and four assists, along with a +5 rating. The Fuel have had defensemen Neil Manning and Josh McArdle called up to Rockford recently, so we will see if this temporarily assembled defensive corps can stymie a potent Komets offense led by Hodgman.

The post PREVIEW: Indy Fuel vs. Fort Wayne Komets appeared first on The Rink.

Matt Tomkins got the starting call in net for Indy. The second-year pro was just named ECHL Goaltender of the Week for the second time this season and was named an ECHL Goaltender of the Month runner-up. Tomkins entered the matchup with a 13-9-0-0 record alongside a 3.16 goals-against-average and a .906 save percentage.

At the other end, Zachary Fucale got the start for the Komets. Fucale entered the game with an 8-5-0-1 along with a 2.99 goals-against-average and an .896 save percentage. Fucale just returned from a stint with Team Canada in the Spengler Cup.

FUEL STARTING LINEUP

Josh Shalla-Quentin Shore-Radovan Bondra

Robert Powers-Dmitry Osipov

Matt Tomkins

Justin Hodgman got the scoring started early for Fort Wayne as he roofed one over the shoulder of Tomkins. This gave the Komets an early 1-0 lead.

Former Komets forward Logan Nelson potted his fifth of the season just 1:32 into the second period. He picked up his own rebound after the initial shot was blocked by a Komets defender and ripped the puck five-hole on Fucale.

A pair of J.C. Campagna goals gave the Komets a two-goal lead as he netted his 15^th and 16^th of the season, one of which coming on the man advantage. Hodgman picked up primary assists on both Campagna goals.

Mason Baptista sealed the victory for the Komets on a breakaway, as his fourth of the season led the Komets to a 4-1 victory.

Quotebook

Nelson on the offense getting more shots on net lately: “It’s definitely something that we notice in the [locker] room. We talk about getting the puck on the net more and being heavy in the shot department. It creates offense and offensive zone faceoffs, which could lead to a penalty and a power play, you never know. It’s something that we talk about in the [locker] room and that we try to bring to our game.”

By The Numbers

40 – Number of shots on goal for the Komets

2 – Number of players that left with injures for the Fuel (Miles Liberati and Matt Rupert)

The post RECAP: Fuel fall 4-1 to Komets in big Central Division matchup appeared first on The Rink.

Team Statistics:

Power Play
Indy (15.6%, 18th)
Fort Wayne (16.1%, T-14th)

Penalty Kill
Indy (83.8%, 15^th)
Fort Wayne (84.3%, 12^th)

Shots For/Against Per Game
Indy (27.71, 27^th)
Fort Wayne (30.23, 22^nd)

Shooting%
Indy (12.3%, T-1^st)
Fort Wayne (10.0%, T-15^th)

Avg. Height/Weight
Indy – 6’1”, 195 lbs
Fort Wayne – 6’1”, 201 lbs

Analysis:

The Indy Fuel are coming off a 6-2 win over a Central Division opponent, the Kalamazoo Wings, on New Years’ Eve.

The Fuel exploded for four goals in the second period, collecting goals from four different players. Forward Ryan Rupert recorded a four-point outing and brother Matt Rupert netted two goals in the Monday matinee.

The Fort Wayne Komets are entering Thursday’s game with a 4-3 loss to the Brampton Beast on their minds. The Komets were trailing the Beast 4-0 going into the third period and attempted a third period comeback but fell just short.

The Fuel defeated the Komets 5-2 in Fort Wayne in their last outing to improve their head-to-head record to 1-2 this season. The last time the Komets visited Indiana Farmers Coliseum, they defeated the Fuel 3-1 in Indy’s home opener.

The Komets’ top three scorers against the Fuel are not currently on their roster. Forwards Phelix Martineau and Marc-Olivier Roy are employed by AHL teams while forward Garrett Ladd was traded to the Jacksonville IceMen.

It’s also worth noting that the Fuel’s most penalized game was their home opener against the Komets, in which they totaled 32 penalty minutes and a season-high two major penalties.

Players To Watch

Indy: Radovan Bondra

The 21-year-old has many places to improve in, but he has been showing his potential as of lately. Bondra has six points in his last five games, including two assists in the Fuel’s last game in Kalamazoo. We’ll see how he fares against Indy’s top rival tonight.

Fort Wayne: Justin Hodgman

Hodgman played in his first game following a two-game suspension on New Years’ Eve after he took a baseball swing at a Kalamazoo player on Dec. 27. The veteran is the top scorer in active players for the Komets against the Fuel this year with three points in three games.

The post PREVIEW: Indy Fuel vs. Fort Wayne Komets appeared first on The Rink.