Third Period Burst Leads Kalamazoo to Win over Fuel
January 27, 2019 - ECHL (ECHL)
Indy Fuel News Release
KALAMAZOO, MI. - Three goals in the third period helped Kalamazoo (20-20-0-2) to a come from behind victory over the Indy Fuel (22-19-2-1) at the Wings Event Center in the second of the home and home series on Sunday afternoon.
Brett Welychka tallied his 10th goal fo the season within the first five minutes of the first period to give Indy an early lead. Kevin Dufour passed the puck from behind the net to Welychka who zig zagged the puck and lifted it to the right top corner of the net over goaltender Jake Hildebrand's shoulder.
Halfway through the first Kalamazoo won a face off that allowed Saar to take a slapshot from the blue line that passed by goalie Gordan Defiel. Defiel made his debut for the Fuel tonight after being acquired on a trade with the South Caroina Stingrays for future considerations earlier this week.
Logan Nelson tallied a power play goal for the Fuel at 19:35 to give the Fuel a 2-1 lead that would last throughout a scoreless second period.
Less than two minutes into the third period Reid Gardiner diverted the puck from the right circle to Tanner Sorenson in front of the net and buried it in the net to tie the score at 2-2.
The Fuel gained their second power play goal of the night when Nelson took a shot from the boards that bounced off of Hildebrands's pads where Matt Rupert was waiting to rebound the puck to give the Fuel a one point lead once again. However, the Wings proved resilient when they won a face-off in the right circle where Tyler Ganely took the slapshot that was blocked by Defiel, recovered by Brendan Bradly who passed it behind his back to Kyle Thomas who tapped the puck in to tie up the score at 3-3.
Wings sealed the deal with five minutes left to go in the third when Chad McDonald rotated himself around Zach Miskovic for a diving shot that was tipped in by Saar into the net for a final score of 4-3.
Fuel finished 2-for-4 on the power play while Wings finished 0-for-3.
In his debut Defiel had 31 saves on 35 shots and Hildebrand had 28 saves on 31 shots.
Indy picks up four points this weekend with wins against the Fort Wayne Komets on Friday and the Kalamazoo Wings on Saturday. The Fuel travel to play the Wheeling Nailers on Friday February 1st at 7:05pm at Wesbanco Arena.
Single-game tickets are now on sale for the Fuel's 5th anniversary season at Indiana Farmers Coliseum! Lock up your seat for every second of the action at Indiana Farmers Coliseum with a Fuel Ticket Plan - grab yours by heading to IndyFuelHockey.com or by calling the Fuel front office at 317-925-FUEL. Don't forget to follow the Fuel on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat (IndyFuel) for news, updates, contests and much more throughout the 2018-19 season.
• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...
ECHL Stories from January 27, 2019
- Idaho Claims 5-4 Win over Thunder - Wichita Thunder
- Tulsa Battles Back to Beat Allen in Overtime - Tulsa Oilers
- Steelheads Come from Behind, Hold off Thunder in 5-4 Win - Idaho Steelheads
- Third Period Burst Leads Kalamazoo to Win over Fuel - Indy Fuel
- Rays Spoil Stomper's Birthday Party - Greenville Swamp Rabbits
- Milner Shines in Return During 2-1 Victory over Greenville - South Carolina Stingrays
- Worcester Wishes They Had Sunday off After 5-2 Loss to Monarchs - Worcester Railers HC
- Late Rally Falls Short for Wheeling - Wheeling Nailers
- Monarchs Run Through Railers, 5-2 - Manchester Monarchs
- K-Wings Use Three Goal Third to Top Fuel 4-3 - Kalamazoo Wings
- Mariners Drop Third Straight with 4-2 Loss to Thunder - Maine Mariners
- Thunder Score Four Unanswered to End Weekend with Win - Adirondack Thunder
- Growlers Trample Beast 7-4 - Newfoundland Growlers
- Growlers Halt Beast Win Streak at Five - Brampton Beast
- ECHL Transactions - January 27 - ECHL
- Nailers vs. Komets Game Day Snap Shot, January 27 - Wheeling Nailers
- Allen Americans Game Capsule - Allen Americans
- Game Day: Wmu Day Sends Fuel Back to Kalamazoo - Kalamazoo Wings
- Grizzlies Fall 4-3 to the Mavericks - Utah Grizzlies
- Mavericks Top Utah in Thrilling Back and Forth Battle, 4-3 - Kansas City Mavericks
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
