INDIANAPOLIS– The Fuel fell 7-1 to the Nailers in the second game of the first round of the playoffs. They head to Wheeling now for three games, as the series is tied 1-1 after a Fuel win on Friday.
1ST PERIOD
Wheeling opened the scoring at 6:06 with a goal by Matt Koopman to make it 1-0.
At 10:49, Zach Jordan took a roughing penalty, giving the Nailers a power play opportunity, however the Fuel killed it off.
Chase Lang took the game’s next penalty with a high sticking double minor at 19:50 that resulted in a quick goal by Wheeling’s Evan Vierling to make it 2-0.
2ND PERIOD
At 7:27, Jordan Martel scored to make it 3-0 and then scored again at 7:48. Both goals were assisted by Koopman, the second also assisted by Justin Addamo. Both of them collected their third point of the night with those assists.
Addamo took a goaltender interference penalty at 10:48, giving the Fuel their first power play of the game but the Nailers were able to kill it off.
Santino Centorame took a hooking penalty at 13:46 to give Wheeling another power play but the Fuel killed it off.
Wheeling’s Justin Lee scored at 17:02 to make it 5-0. About a minute later, Jared Westcott scored to make it 6-0 before the period ended.
3RD PERIOD
To start the third period, Mitchell Weeks came in for Driscoll in net and both teams seemed to settle down a bit until 8:28 when Ross MacDougall took a cross checking penalty.
That penalty resulted in another Wheeling power play goal to make it 7-0. That was scored by Vierling, which was his second goal of the night.
At 11:50, Kale Howarth took a tripping penalty to give Wheeling another power play.
Dustin Manz took a high sticking double minor at 14:09, giving the Fuel a huge power play opportunity which they capitalized on with a goal by Ross MacDougall at 15:18 assisted by Jordan and Kyle Maksimovich.
At 16:07, Cam Hausinger took a cross checking penalty and was issued a misconduct. While the Fuel did not allow another goal during the penalty kill, time expired and they could not mount the comeback.
Wheeling outshot Indy 29-21 in the 7-1 loss.
If necessary, the Indy Fuel will be back in action at Indiana Farmers Coliseum next week on Monday, April 29 for game six of the series against the Wheeling Nailers in the playoffs.
Originally posted on indyfuelhockey.com