For the first time in five years of hockey at the Ford Center, the Evansville IceMen dropped its home opener after falling 3-1 Saturday to the Indy Fuel to open the 2015-16 season.
Indy’s goaltending stole the show for the second straight night, after the Fuel opened up its season at home Friday night with a 3-2 shootout win over Toledo. Mac Carruth stopped 33 IceMen shots one night after Shane Own turned away 29 attempts. Joe Zarbo score Evansville’s only goal with two seconds left on the sixth IceMen power-play of the night, with 4:56 to play in regulation to cut Indy’s lead in half at the time.
However, the comeback fell just short as the Fuel added an empty net goal in the waning second to seal the victory. Alex Lavoie started the scoring with a one-timer from low in the slot on a feed from Daniel Ciampini midway through the second period. Then Kyle Stroh made it 2-0 on the power-play early in the third.
Zarbo’s goal was a nifty backhander under the crossbar for his fourth career IceMen goal after scoring three times in nine games at the end of 2014-15. Chris Carlisle picked up his first professional point with one of the two assists.
Jonathan Carlsson and Vincent Dunn provided excitement for the 6,915 in attendance with fights in the first and second periods, respectively, but Evansville struggled to solve Carruth all night in the defeat.
The IceMen next play Saturday, October 24, when Evansville hosts the Toledo Walleye at 7:15pm. It’s “Back to the Future Night†at the Ford Center and the team will be donning special jerseys to commemorate the year Marty McFly travelled into the future during the second installment of the movie trilogy. Tickets are available at the Ford Center box office or on www.ticketmaster.com.
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Group tickets are on sale for groups of ten or more people to any of the remaining 31 IceMen home games for a discounted price. Call an IceMen Account Executive for details at 812-421-GOAL (4625).
Pro-rated season tickets are also on sale for as low as $10 per ticket. For more information, visit www.evansvilleicemen.com or call 812-421-GOAL (4625).
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