Fuel Fall to Toledo in Thriller
April 1, 2023 - ECHL (ECHL)
Indy Fuel News Release
TOLEDO - The Fuel visited the Toledo Walleye for their final meeting before the playoffs in an effort to get a late season win against the second place Walleye. Despite going up 2-0 early in the first period, the Fuel fell 5-4 in regulation.
1ST PERIOD
Andrew Bellant scored first for the Fuel at 5:43 with an amazing unassisted goal right in front, after grabbing the puck from midair, feeding it to himself and scoring. Wideman got his second goal in two days about a minute later to give Indy a 2-0 lead for the first time this season over the Walleye.
At 10:18, Toledo's Brandon Hawkins scored to make it 2-1, while tying a Toledo franchise record for most goals in a single season. At 15:16, Andrew Sturtz added one more and tied it up for the Walleye.
A little over a minute after that, TJ Hensick scored to break the tie and put the Walleye up 3-2 just before a delay of game penalty was called on Toledo giving the Fuel the first power play of the game.
Toledo killed off that penalty and the time expired on the first frame with the Walleye narrowly outshooting the Fuel 12-11.
2ND PERIOD
Just thirteen seconds into the second period, Colin Bilek collected his second point of the game on a goal to tie it up. Alex Wideman was the lone assist, bringing his Fuel franchise point total to 170.
Hawkins got his second goal of the game on the power play after Kirill Chaika was issued a cross-checking penalty to make it 4-3 for Toledo.
At 8:49, Kyle Maksimovich took a penalty for hooking that gave the Walleye another chance on the power play however the Fuel killed it off.
At 16:54, Toledo's Gordie Green took a penalty for closing his hand around the puck giving Indy a power play opportunity however Luc Brown was called for slashing causing some 4-on-4 play before Toledo would end up with the power play that would carry over to the third period.
3RD PERIOD
The third period opened with a scrum around Indy's net after a hit by Chris Cameron. Sturtz and Wideman both ended up with offsetting roughing minors after continuing the battle.
At 5:09, Sam Craggs and Bellant dropped the gloves and both earned five minutes for fighting. At 12:43, Hawkins took a cross-checking penalty to give the Fuel a big power play opportunity late in the game but the Walleye killed it off.
At 16:56, Craggs scored to make it 5-3 with the help of Sturtz and Jake Willets.
With about three minutes to go, the Fuel pulled Zach Driscoll from net in favor of the extra skater. Max Golod scored to make it 5-4 with the man advantage with just 1:19 to go. With an assist on this goal, Kyle Maksimovich tallied his first professional point.
With just 16 seconds to go in the third period, Bilek and Toledo's Riley McCourt both got called for roughing which sent them to the box. Despite a few final chances from Yetman and Wideman, the Fuel could not tie it up and ultimately fell 5-4.
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The Indy Fuel are back in action at Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Sunday, April 2 as they take on the Kalamazoo Wings for Family Fun & Kids Eat Free Day.
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