The Indy Fuel opened a crucial four-game series against the Bloomington Bison on Wednesday night, battling for fourth place in the Central Division. Despite keeping pace early, the Fuel ultimately fell 5-2 as the Bison pulled away in the third period.

Bloomington struck first at 7:11 when Patrick Bajkov put the Bison on the board. However, the Fuel responded just over two minutes later when DJ King, assisted by Ethan Manderville and Cam Hausinger, netted the equalizer at 9:40. The evenly matched period ended with a 1-1 tie, as Bloomington narrowly outshot Indy 10-9.

The Bison wasted no time regaining the lead, with Kohei Sato scoring just 57 seconds into the frame. Indy then faced back-to-back penalty kills after infractions by Kale Howarth (interference) and Chris Cameron (hooking), but successfully neutralized both.

Colin Bilek brought the Fuel back even at 6:33 with a power-play goal, assisted by Bryan Lemos and Alex Wideman. Bloomington responded quickly, reclaiming the lead at 10:15 on a goal from Danny Katic.

Tensions flared late in the period as Matus Spodniak and Jackson Stewart took offsetting roughing penalties, leading to two minutes of 4-on-4 action. By the end of the period, Bloomington held a 3-2 lead, with both teams registering 19 shots.

The Bison widened their lead at 3:17 when Sam Coatta made it 4-2. Indy had a power-play opportunity after a high-sticking penalty on Chongmin Lee but couldn’t convert.

As the Fuel pushed for a comeback, Katic secured his second goal of the night into an empty net at 14:42. Bloomington continued to apply pressure as the game turned physical, with multiple misconduct penalties handed out in the final moments.

With a 5-2 victory, the Bison outshot Indy 33-23. The two teams will face off three more times in the next four days as the Fuel look to bounce back in the series.