The Indy Fuel opened a weekend home-and-home series with Kalamazoo in strong fashion Friday night, building an early lead and cruising to a 4-1 victory over the K-Wings at Wings Event Center.

Indy struck quickly and often in the first period, scoring three times to seize control of the game. Michael Marchesan opened the scoring just 2:04 into the contest, converting on Indy’s first shot of the night.

The Fuel doubled their lead at 12:43 when a wide-angle deflection off a shot by Eric Martin found its way into the net. After a brief review, the goal stood, giving Indy a 2-0 advantage.

Less than two minutes later, the Fuel capitalized on the power play. Terry Broadhurst scored at 14:56, with assists from Martin and Cody Laskosky, to make it 3-0. The goal prompted Kalamazoo to replace starting goaltender Ty Young with Jonathon Lemieux. Indy led 3-0 after one period while outshooting the K-Wings 9-6.

The second period was largely uneventful, with limited scoring chances and no goals. Kalamazoo earned its first power play late in the period after a goaltender interference penalty on Indy’s Matt Petgrave, but the Fuel penalty kill carried the momentum into the third. Shots were even at 19-19 after two periods.

Kalamazoo finally broke through at 6:32 of the third period when David Keefer scored to cut the deficit to 3-1. Indy responded midway through the frame, as Sahil Panwar scored at 13:34, assisted by Broadhurst and Petgrave, to restore the three-goal cushion.

The K-Wings pulled their goaltender late in an attempt to rally, but the Fuel held firm. Kalamazoo outshot Indy 29-28 overall, but the Fuel skated away with the 4-1 win.

Kalamazoo and the Fuel will wrap up the weekend series Saturday night at the Fishers Event Center.