CORALVILLE, IA – Tyler Busch scored twice and the Iowa Heartlanders scored the final three goals of the game to earn a 5-2 victory over the Indy Fuel on Friday. Hunter Jones made 22 saves and Carson Denomie had two assists for Iowa. The victory snapped a six-game winless streak.

Indy jumped out in front 11:22 into the contest. Bryan Lemos carried the puck out of his own end, through the neutral zone and into the Iowa end. As he was just above the left face-off circle, Lemos took a wrist shot that beat Jones just under the arm for his 14th goal of the year.

Iowa responded when Busch tied the game at 14:04. Denomie took a shot from just above the right face-off circle that was deflected in front, bouncing in on Zach Driscoll. Driscoll made the save, but Busch put the rebound in for his first goal of the night.

Iowa outshot Indy 14-9 in the first period, but came away from the first frame with the score tied. However, Busch gave his team the lead, scoring his second goal of the night 1:01 into the second. This was a beautiful setup by Denomie, who passed the puck across the slot to Busch. Busch blasted a one-timer by Driscoll for his 13th goal of the year.

The Heartlanders carried the one goal advantage into the third and held it through the first 10 minutes, but Colin Bilek tied the score at 10:05, netting his 15th goal of the season. Bilek fed the puck to Jared Thomas, who gave it right back Bilek. Bilek buried a one-timer to knot the game at two.

The Heartlanders were unfazed, retaking the lead with just over seven minutes left in the game. It was a great individual effort by Brendan Robbins that set up the goal. He moved into the Fuel zone, speeding between two Indy defenseman while still being able to control the puck. As he swept across the crease, Robbins lifted a backhand that Driscoll saved, but Matt Hanewall knocked in the rebound for his first goal of the year.

With 3:17 left, Iowa extended the lead to two. With the Heartlanders on the power-play, James Sanchez made a great pass to Zach White at the backdoor, who buried a one-timer for his 14th goal of the season. Yuki Miura closed out the scoring, stealing the puck inside the Indy end before scoring his ninth goal of the year. That made it 5-2.

The Iowa Heartlanders (14-30-13) welcome the Kalamazoo Wings (23-29-4) on Saturday evening. The puck drops at 7:05.

Gamesheet

By Robert Pannier