ECHL - Indy Fuel - October 2015 Games

Pre-Season
7 Fort Wayne Komets (h)
11 Quad City Mallards (h)


16 Toledo Walleye (h) 3-2 SO

In a game that threatened to be a runaway barn burner after a four-goal first period, the Indy Fuel and Toledo Walleye staged a classic ECHL battle that needed a shootout to settle at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Dylan Clarke got the Fuel on the board just 1:18 into the contest with a wrist shot from the left wing that beat Toledo goaltender Jeff Lerg over the right shoulder.  Lerg appeared to leave the post early to create daylight for Clarke’s shot. After Toledo responded at 8:34 with an AJ Jenks marker, the Fuel found itself on the power play thanks to Jenks taking a cross-checking penalty.  Assistant captain Garett Bembridge made the Walleye pay with a man-advantage marker at 12:21, taking a cross-ice feed from Alex Lavoie and firing a one-timer past Lerg to make it 2-1.

Toledo would once again even the score at 17:45 when Evan Rankin found the net during a delayed penalty against the Fuel and Lerg on the bench for the extra skater. In the second period Toledo carried the bulk of the play but Owen shined in net for the Fuel, turning aside all 11 shots faced to keep Indy in the game headed to the third. To begin the final frame the Fuel came out firing, pelting Lerg with shots but unable to find a way to break the deadlock. The Walleye also notched another 11-shot period but once again Owen was solid and helped push the game through to overtime and then a shootout. In the second round of the shootout the Fuel scored on Kyle Stroh’s attempt while Owen stopped Kyle Bonis, setting the stage for Alex Lavoie to win the game with his goal in the third round.  Lavoie beat Lerg on the glove side to send his teammates over the boards to celebrate the opening night win.

Scoring

1. IND Clarke, (1) (Lavoie, Jardine), 1:18
1. TOL Jenks, (1) (Bushee, Berschbach), 8:34
1. IND Bembridge, (1) (Clarke, Lavoie), 12:21 (PP)
1. TOL Rankin, (1) (Freibergs, Berschbach), 17:45

Three Stars
1- Alex Lavoie (2a, shootout winning goal)  2- Shane Owen (29 saves, 2 GA)  3-
Dylan Clarke (1g)

17 @ Evansville Icemen 3-4

In the second of 11 head-to-head meetings between the two teams this season, the Indy Fuel were defeated by the Fort Wayne Komets on Saturday by a final score of 4-3 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. With the loss, the Fuel fell to 0-1-0-1 on the season and with one point, dropped to fifth place in the ECHL’s North Division standings. For the second consecutive game, the Fuel stuck first as rookie forward Jamie Wise took control of a loose puck in the right circle of his offensive zone at 9:51 of the opening period and slipped the first goal of his professional career through Fort Wayne goaltender Pat Nagle to make it 1-0 Fuel with Justin Holl collecting the lone assist on the play. After the Komets tied the game late in the first, Robert Czarnik put Indy back in the driver’s seat at 5:04 of the second period with a power-play tally from the top of the left circle, set up by Holl and Nick Jones, that made it 2-1 Fuel. Urged on by a crowd of 8,788 fans, the Komets rallied the rest of the way in the middle period, collecting goals from Kaleigh Schrock and Mikael Tam at 7:49 and 9:52 of the frame to claim a 3-2 lead heading into the second intermission. In the third, a fortuitous bounce for the Komets delivered Marshall Heard a rebound score at 2:30 of the period to extend the Fort Wayne lead to 4-2. The Fuel made things interesting late in the third, as Indy defenseman Nick Jones pulled Indy within a goal at 4-3 with his first of the season on the power-play at 15:25, but the Komets hung on in the waning moments for their second consecutive victory over the Fuel. Indy goaltender Cody Reichard stopped 23 of the 27 shots he faced in his first appearance and first start for the Fuel while Nagle followed up a 32-save performance on Friday in net for the Komets with a 31 save showing on Saturday in the Fort Wayne netminder’s second consecutive victory.

1 - 0	1	1st	IND	9:51	J. Wise (1)	N. Jones		V	5 18 20 25	H	15 53 55 92
1 - 1	2	1st	FW	14:58	M. Pistilli (2)	M. Tam, J. Martin		V	2 6 11 14 16	H	15 20 36 52 55
2 - 1	3	2nd	IND	5:04	R. Czarnik (2)	J. Holl, N. Jones	PP	V	5 9 25 27 88	H	8 15 20 44
2 - 2	4	2nd	FW	7:49	K. Schrock (2)	M. Heard, E. Faille		V	2 6 11 14 16	H	52 55 72 79 92
2 - 3	5	2nd	FW	9:52	M. Tam (1)	P. Crowder, J. Martin	PP	V	2 6 11 19	H	15 20 36 52 55
2 - 4	6	3rd	FW	2:30	M. Heard (1)	E. Faille, C. Sol		V	5 6 9 18 27	H	8 44 72 79 92
3 - 4	7	3rd	IND	15:25	N. Jones (1)	R. Bly, R. Czarnik	PP	V	5 9 18 25 27	H	4 27 53 79

23 @ Fort Wayne Komets 0-3

Despite a stingy defensive performance, offense was not in the cards for the ECHL’s Indy Fuel during a 3-0 blanking at the hands of the Fort Wayne Komets at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. An unfortunate third-period bounce spoiled a strong performance from Indy netminder Shane Owen, and set the stage for a 21-save shutout victory for Spencer Martin in his professional debut.
With the game still deadlocked at a scoreless tie in the third period, it was a rebound and a missed clearing attempt that gave the Komets all the cushion they would require to pick up the victory in the first of 11 meetings with the Fuel this season. Indy defenseman Dillon Fournier tried to clean up a rebound off the stick of Alex Belzile, but ended up with an own goal after the puck caromed off of the skate of Zach Miskovic. Belzile was credited for the go-ahead goal at 8:15 of the third, his second goal of the season. A couple of late empty netters by the Mike Embach and Trevor Cheek ballooned the Komets lead to 3-0, picking up their third-straight victory to start the season, while handing the Fuel their first loss of 2015-16. The first 50 minutes of the game belonged to the goaltenders however, as Owen and Martin traded off stops in what was a high-tempo game between the two teams at the top of the Midwest Division. Owen finished with 26 saves, including 11 in the second period. Indy’s best offensive opportunities also came in the second, but nothing found its way behind the rookie Martin. Matt White narrowly missed on a 2-on-1 break early in the period, and Cody Sharib found the crossbar soon afterward. Martin was only tasked with stopping six shots in the third period, as the Fuel struggled to mount scoring pressure down the stretch. Both teams came up empty on the man advantage despite numerous chances; Fort Wayne was scoreless in three power play chances and the Fuel went 0-for-4, including an elongated 5-on-3 power play in the first period.

Scoring
3. FW Belzile, (2) (Cheek, Sivak), 8:15
3. FW Embach, (2) (Szydlowski, Daniels), 18:59 (EN)
3. FW Cheek, (3) , 19:44 (EN)

24 @ Fort Wayne Komets 5-6

A wild back-and-forth affair in Fort Wayne ended at 4:38 of overtime when Alex
Belzile scored to give the hometown Komets a 6-5 win over the visiting Indy Fuel. The game started with the two teams trading goals midway through the first period and then Rhett Bly was hauled down on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot at 15:59.  He would convert on the attempt by shifting to his right and firing a shot over the glove hand of Komets goalkeeper Pat Nagle (22 saves) to make it 2-1 Fuel after 20 minutes of play. The second period started with a run of three-straight goals by the Komets in a span of 8:44 to make it 4-2, but Garett Bembridge rallied the Fuel back within a goal just 40 seconds after the fourth Fort Wayne goal.  Bly followed with his second of the game at 17:50 and the two teams skated off to the dressing room tied 4-4 headed to the final period of regulation. Midway through the period Dylan Clarke scored a power play goal on a give-and-go feed with Peter Schneider to put the Fuel ahead 5-4.  The score would remain that way until less than a minute to go in regulation, when Peter Sivak scored on a wrist shot from the left wing to tie the game after the Komets pulled Nagle for the extra attacker. In overtime both teams had chances but the Komets converted for the win when Belzile took a cross-crease pass from Drew Daniels and beat Mac Carruth (47 saves) on the glove side for the game winner.

Notes

• Bly’s first goal was the first penalty shot of the season in the ECHL
• Tonight’s game marked the first time this season the Fuel gave up a goal in
the second period
• Dylan Clarke recorded a four-point night with a goal and three assists setting
a new Fuel team high for the year.  Clarke last posted four points in a game
11/1/14 playing for Rapid City against Allen also with a goal and three assists.
• Carruth’s 47 saves are the second-most in a single game in team history.
Carruth holds the team record with 53 stops 2/28/15, also at Fort Wayne.

27 @ Kalamazoo K Wings
30 Fort Wayne Komets


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