One wonders what it will take for the Indy Fuel to get their first win of this ECHL season. They came up short in a Saturday night showdown at the Fishers Event Center, falling 5-4 in overtime to the Cincinnati Cyclones.
After rallying from a two-goal deficit and taking a late third-period lead, the Fuel were seconds away from victory before Cincinnati forced extra time — and quickly sealed the win.
Cincinnati opened the scoring midway through the first period when Luke Grainger converted on a power play at 8:49 after Indy’s Jordan Martin was called for high sticking. John Jaworski added another goal with just over a minute left in the period to make it 2-0 Cyclones. Tensions flared after the horn as both teams engaged in a brief scuffle before heading to the locker rooms. Shots were even at eight apiece after one.
The Fuel found their spark in the second period. Kevin Lombardi got Indy on the board at 4:50, assisted by Chris Cameron and Martin. Cincinnati extended its lead to 3-1 at 12:33 when Ben King’s goal stood after a video review. Indy answered back when Sahil Panwar netted his first goal of the season on the power play at 15:04, with assists from Holden Wale and Harrison Israels. The Fuel carried momentum into the break, outshooting the Cyclones 22-16 through two periods but still trailing 3-2.
Early in the third, the Fuel tied the game when Lee Lapid — playing against his former team — scored his first of the season on the power play, assisted by Jesse Tucker and Christian Berger. Lombardi struck again at 15:55, giving Indy a 4-3 lead with help from Matt Petgrave and Owen Robinson.
With less than 15 seconds remaining, the Cyclones pulled goaltender Kyle McClellan for an extra skater and were given a two-man advantage after a rare goaltender tripping penalty to Indy’s Owen Flores. The move paid off when Ryan Kirwan scored with just 4.7 seconds on the clock to tie the game 4-4 and send it to overtime.
Cincinnati needed only 40 seconds in the extra period to complete the comeback, as Elijah Vilio netted the game-winner to give the Cyclones a 5-4 victory.
The Fuel were less than 5 seconds away from their first win of this young season and fell short. The Fuel are now 0-4 as they prepare to head down I-74 and face this same Cincy team on the road Thursday night.