Lethemon stands strong in Walleye shootout win over Fuel

TOLEDO – The Toledo Walleye defeated the Indy Fuel 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday night at the Huntington Center.

What Happened:

The Toledo Walleye met the Indy Fuel at the Huntington Center for their season series finale on Labatt Hockey Night in Toledo.

John Lethemon defended the home net for the Walleye. Jacob Graves and Riley McCourt guarded the blue line while Brandon Hawkins, Trenton Bliss and Orrin Centazzo led the Toledo attack.

Cam Gray split the iron for the visiting Fuel. Andrew Perrott and Victor Hadfield manned the defense while Kyle Maksimovich, Ryan Gagnier and Colin Bilek filled out the offensive front for Indy.

A quick, back-and-forth period saw neither team score and one Slashing call against each team.

Toledo outshot Indy 10-6 in the period. Both the Walleye and Fuel were 0/1 on the power play.

A Double Minor for High-Sticking against Graves led to the first goal of the game, an Indy power play goal at 11:10. Andrew Bellant tallied the advantage score with Bryan Lemos and Brett Bulmer picking up the assists.

The Walleye killed off a Holding penalty called at 17:49 to send the teams to the locker rooms with the Walleye trailing the Fuel 1-0. Toledo was outshot by Indy 5-15 in the period and 15-21 after 40 minutes. The Fuel were 1/2 on the power play in the period.

The Walleye came out of the locker room and got right to work in the third period.

A Slashing call against Indy led to a power play goal by Chase Gresock at 2:59 to knot the score at 1-1. Jason Willms and Michael Prapavessis added helpers to the score. The assist by Willms was his first professional point.

The Fuel came right back, reclaiming the lead at 2-1 at 3:43. Ross MacDougall put the Fuel back in front with assists from Perrott and Maksimovich.

The Walleye rode the energy and tied the game at 2-2 at 12:17. Alexandre Doucet snuck one past Gray with help from Graves and Brady Gilmour. The assist was Gilmour’s first professional point.

Regulation came to a close at a 2-2 tie. The Walleye took a season-high 20 shots in the period to Indy’s four, finishing regulation at a 35-25 advantage. The Walleye went 1/2 on the power play in the period.

A back-and-forth and thrilling overtime period ensued, Toledo was outshot by Indy 5-8 in the period, but all 13 total shots were saved.

The Walleye claimed their first shootout win since 11/18 against Fort Wayne after Hawkins and Centazzo each scored while Lethemon denied both Bulmer and Bilek.

That wrapped the 3-2 Toledo Walleye win over the Indy Fuel. The Walleye outshot the Fuel 41-33. Toledo was 1/3 on the power play overall while Indy was 1/4.

Three Stars Sponsored by Local 245:

1. Brandon Hawkins (GWG/SO) – TOL
2. Alexandre Doucet (1G) – TOL
3. John Lethemon (W, 31/33 SV; 2/2 SV/SO)

What’s Next:

The Toledo Walleye will head West to Iowa for a three-game road series against the Iowa Heartlanders. The series begins Wednesday, April 3, 2024, at Xtream Arena in Coralville, IA with puck drop coming at 7:35 pm ET.