DeBlouw fires two leading Thunder to home opener win against Fuel
The Indy Fuel rallied from a 4-1 deficit but fell one goal shy in its ECHL opener at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita against the host Thunder on Friday (Oct. 13, 2017).
Matt DeBlouw paced the Thunder, ECHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers and Bakersfield Condors in its home opener, scoring twice, including the lone goal of the first period.
The Fuel, ECHL affiliate of the Chicago BlackHawks and Rockford IceHogs, opened the closed the scoring in the middle frame with goals by Geoff Walker and Zach Miskovic, but the Thunder responded with three of its own in between.
Kyle Platzer, DeBlouw and Travis Ewanyk scored the Thunder goals opening a 4-1 lead before Miskovic scored his with a little over five minutes to go in the period.
Alex Wideman got the guests back to within a goal just past the halfway mark of the final period, but that was the final shot to beat Wichita goaltender Joel Rumpel who ended the game with 35 saves.
Collin Delia handled 25 shots in goal for the Fuel before dashing to the bench in favor of an extra attacker with a little more than two minutes to play.
The same two teams are scheduled to meet again on Saturday, wrapping up a two-game opening weekend set.
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Born and raised in Ontario, Canada and moved to the state of Wisconsin in my late 30's. I worked at various newspapers and magazines in various sports positions for 25 years before changing careers five years ago. Now I am streamlining my focus on hockey only and in particular, all levels of hockey in the American Midwest.