Toledo Dominates Indy in Home Opener

The Toledo Walleye opened their home schedule in dominant fashion on Saturday night, defeating the Indy Fuel 6–2 at the Huntington Center. The win was fueled by a relentless special-teams effort that included three short-handed goals—two from rookie forward Will Hillman and two from Chad Hillebrand.

Hillebrand wasted no time getting the crowd on its feet, scoring just 37 seconds into the first period off a feed from Tanner Dickinson and Brandon Hawkins. Indy tied the game late in the period, but the Walleye held the edge in shots, 13–8.

The second period belonged to Toledo. Hillman scored his first professional goal short-handed just 40 seconds into the frame, followed 21 seconds later by another short-handed marker from Hillebrand on a breakaway. Nolan Moyle added his fourth goal of the season midway through the period—making him the only player in franchise history to score in each of the first four games of a season. Sam Craggs capped the four-goal period with a power-play tally, assisted by Jordan Ernst and Nick Andrews.

Hillman sealed the win late in the third with an unassisted short-handed goal, his second of the game and of his career. Gylander turned aside 23 of 25 shots, while the Walleye peppered Indy with 51 shots on goal.

The win improved Toledo’s record to 3–1–0, extending point streaks for multiple skaters, including Hawkins, Moyle, and Andrews, who have all recorded points in every game this season.