Four Goal Third Propels Fuel Past Heartlanders
CORALVILLE, IA – The Indy Fuel had no answers for Hunter Jones through the first 40 minutes, but scored four goals in the final period to earn a 4-1 victory over the Iowa Heartlanders. Cameron Hillis had three assists for the Fuel. Bo Hanson scored the only goal for Iowa. Jones finished with 40 saves, his fourth game in the last six where he is have faced at least 37 shots.
After a scoreless first period, Iowa jumped out in front in the second as Hanson scored his third goal of the year. The Heartlanders were doing a great job of keeping the puck inside the Indy end. Brendan Robbins slung the puck across the blueline the Hanson, who had a clear lane to shoot, blasting a slapshot that beat Mitchell Weeks to the far post to make it 1-0.
Jones stopped 29 shots through the first two periods, as his team put only 15 shots on net through the first 40 minutes. However, things drastically changed quickly, starting with Andrew Perrott scoring 3:11 of the final frame. It was a mirror image of Hanson’s tally, as Hillis moved the puck along the blueline to Perrott, who blasted a slap shot by Jones for his fourth of the year.
The score remained tied until just before the 12-minute mark when the Fuel took the lead. While on the power-play, Indy created a perfect set up as Hillis passed the puck toward the front where Carson Arose tempted by Jones for his third of the year.
Just 16 seconds later, the Fuel were back on the board. This time it was a perfect feed across the slot to Chad Yetman, who buried the one timer for his 20th tally of the year. Hillis earned his third assist on the play while Yetman earn his second point.
With 4:35 left in the game, Alex Wideman closed out the scoring, netting his 15th tally of the year. It was a beautiful individual play by Wideman, who took a feed from Spencer Watson out in front, then moved toward the far post, getting Jones down before lifting a backhander just under the crossbar to make it 4-1.
The loss dropped the Iowa Heartlanders to 9-24-10. The club will travel to Indianapolis on Friday to take on the Fuel (30-14-2). The puck drops at 6:00 Iowa time.
by Robert Pannier
