The Indy Fuel picked up their first win of the season on Thursday night, taking down the Cincinnati Cyclones 2-1 at Heritage Bank Center.
Scoring the two goals for Indy were Brett Moravec and Jacob LeGuerrier, while rookie netminder Owen Flores stopped 23 of 24 shots to earn his first professional win.
Scoring the lone goal late for Cincinnati was John Jaworski, while Ken Appleby stopped 25 of 27 shots in the loss.
First Period
It was a slow first period that saw just 12 total shots on goal. Cincinnati led the shot total 9-3 after a late power play and several minutes of sustained offensive zone time.
Weselowski liked how his team started and felt the group did many things right early on before getting away from their game in the second.
“In the first period, we did a lot of good things, and then, just like we did last game, we got away from our game in the second period. We started trying to stretch out the ice; we were skating away from the puck rather than coming towards it. Unfortunately, we just dug ourselves a little bit too big of a hole.”
Second Period
Moravec opened the scoring for Indy midway through the second, wristing a shot past Appleby’s glove to make it 1-0 for the visitors. It was the rookie’s second goal of the season after a seven-point campaign with Minnesota State (CCHA) last year.
The goal came on a botched clearing attempt from Cincinnati, who failed to get the puck deep into the Indy zone, and it cost them.
After assisting on the first goal, LeGuerrier roofed a backhand shot over Appleby after a penalty was called, but Indy scored before Cincinnati could even touch the puck.
By the end of the middle frame, Indy outshot Cincinnati 15-to-8.
Third Period
Cincinnati made things interesting late. With the net empty and on the penalty kill, Jaworski scored with just under two minutes left in regulation to trim the deficit to 2-1.
Cincinnati had one more chance in the final seconds, but couldn’t get one past Flores.
Cincinnati had a few chances to get on the board during their three power play chances but couldn’t convert. Weselowski pointed out that the Cyclones generated good looks despite not scoring.
“We did have some good looks, and we could’ve used one tonight for sure. But going into this game, we’ve been clicking at kind of a ridiculous pace. The thing with the power play is, if you’re constantly attacking and getting those looks, you’re going to be playing at a pretty good percentage. Unfortunately, we didn’t get one tonight, but there was still a lot of good out there.”
Cincinnati also thought they had scored late in the third on a play involving forward Gunnar Fontaine, but the goal was waved off after officials ruled he was holding an opposing stick before the shot.
On that call, Weselowski shared what the referee told him.
“He felt that Fontaine was holding on with his stick, and so that’s the way the ref saw it, and that’s the way the call went.”
Weselowski liked the compete his team showed late, even when facing a tough situation down a man.
“We know we’ve got a good group. We know we’ve got a great group of guys in there, and it’s about learning. We’re a young hockey team, and you’ve got to learn how to be a pro. I’d love to say that by the 10th or 12th game, we were really cleaned up in what we’re doing, but the truth is, it’s a long process. If we stick to it, keep working hard, and learn from games like this, we’re going to be in great shape. We’ve got a lot of talent and a lot of guys that care in that locker room, and it’s going to be a lot of fun working with these guys.”
Cincinnati moved to 2-2-0 with the loss, while Indy improved to 1-2-1. Cincinnati returns to action on Saturday night at Heritage Bank Center, hosting the Bloomington Bison at 7:35 p.m. It will be the first meeting of the season between the two teams.
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