INDIANAPOLIS – The Walleye willed their way to another grueling victory on Thursday night to gain an incredibly hard-fought, first-round sweep of a dogged Indy Fuel team.

Toledo dominated much of the early stages of Game 4 of the Central Division semifinal. But the Walleye needed great goaltending from Pat Nagle and double overtime before prevailing 3-2 to advance to the second round of the Kelly Cup playoffs.

Forward Christian Hilbrich scored the game-winner on a quick wrist shot with 12:14 left in the second overtime.

“My first playoffs as a professional and it feels so great to score a double-OT winner. It's an awesome feeling,” Hilbrich said. “I'm pretty tired right now. I think everyone was happy to get off the ice after playing 100 minutes of hockey.”

With a commanding 3-0 lead in their opening-round series, the Walleye came out bound and determined to finish it in four games. Toledo led 2-1 after two periods, but Indy forced overtime behind stellar goaltending from rookie goalie Etienne Marcoux as the Fuel tallied the tying goal near the midpoint of the third period before a crowd of 2,292 at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.

VIDEO: Walleye complete sweep of Fuel

The performance of Nagle, who finished with 43, was key once again. He made 11 stops in the third period and 14 saves in the first overtime.

“Like we've seen every game has been so tight right down to the last second,” Nagle said. “It was another double overtime game where we were fortunate to come away with the win. This series could have gone either way. They fought as hard as they possibly could. But our guys did a great job every time we had a little bit of adversity, we found a way to get that jump back.”

The teams combined for 104 shots in a Game 4 that lasted nearly four hours.

“It's a roller coaster of emotions,” Walleye coach Dan Watson said. “There are a lot of ups and downs. You have to keep your head in it no matter what happens. We talk about adversity and battling through that and we did that. It came down to will and determination and an opportunity and we got that on a line rush.”

The top-seeded Walleye took the best-of-7 series four games to none. But two games went to double overtime and the other were one-goal games in the third.

“It was a battle,” Watson said. “We knew they would give us all we could handle. I think it's going to prepare us well for the next round.”

The Walleye fell behind 1-0 early and gave up the tying goal late but eventually ousted the resolute Fuel. Marcoux was the difference for the Fuel as he finished with 56 saves.

Defenseman Simon Denis tied the game in the first period and forward Austen Brassard scored a power-play goal late in the second period.

However, Indy's Nathan Noel tied the game with 10:15 left in regulation after a scramble in front of Nagle.

Toledo finished with a 59-45 edge in shots on goal. Hilbrich ended with his team-high fifth goal of the series.

For the second straight game, the Fuel scored first just moments into the contest.

But Denis tied the game at 1 near the midpoint of the first period on a shot from the point through a screen. Dylan Sadowy and A.J. Jenks assisted on Denis' first goal of the playoffs.

Brassard then gave the Walleye a 2-1 lead when he tipped in a shot from Patrick McCarron with 4:24 left in the middle period.

Although the game was tied at 1 after one period, the Walleye had the vast majority of pressure in the opening stanza. Good breakout passes led to dangerous rushes for the Walleye. Toledo had tons of Grade A chances and had out-shot the Fuel 17-8 entering the second period.

Nagle, who won all four games in the series, was steady once again. The veteran netminder did his part to keep it tied in the late stages of the first with consecutive saves on two straight shots from in close.

The Walleye had three power plays in the first period but did not capitalize.

VIDEO: Christian Hilbrich talks about his game-winner

Indy took a 1-0 lead 4:32 into the game as Alex Wideman had a tap-in at the side of the net that Nagle had no chance to stop.

The Walleye were mere inches from tying it on the power play with A.J. Jenks battling in front. But the puck did not cross the line.

Kyle Bonis, who had seven points in the first three games, then hit the post.

Six minutes into the second, Marcoux stoned Connor Crisp on a point-blank chance. Marcoux, who played all four games in the series, was solid throughout.

The Walleye had a 30-16 edge in shots on goal through two periods, not including three shots that hit the pipe.

Marcoux again kept it a one-goal game with a pad save on Colin Jacobs early in the third. Nagle then countered with a good stop to keep the one-goal lead moments later.

Marcoux came up with his 43rd and best stop of the night when he robbed Tyler Barnes in the first overtime.

Nagle then came up with perhaps his best stop with 7:47 left in OT. Moments later Nagle made a snap glove save on former Walleye player Josh Shalla. Then with 3:40 remaining, Nagle came up with another solid glove save. He then stopped a wraparound chance from Shalla.

Toledo went 1 of 9 on the power play. Indy was 0 of 4. Toledo killed off a Fuel power play early in the third. Indy had the top power-play unit in the regular season.

It was the second game in the series that went to double OT. Tyler Barnes scored the game-winner 1:33 into the second overtime in Game 1.

Every player on the Walleye roster had a shot by the end of the first OT. Nagle, who finished with 43 saves, had made 40 saves on 42 shots. He made 14 in overtime alone.

The Walleye now await the winner of the other Central Division semifinal series between No. 2 seed Fort Wayne and No. 3 seed Cincinnati. The Komets hold a 2-1 series lead after a 7-6 overtime loss to the Cyclones on Thursday.

FISH TALES: Garrett Clarke, who had been suspended for Game 2 and missed Game 3 was back in the lineup. Clarke assisted on the goal and had two penalties in the first period. ... Late in the second, Hilbrich exchanged blows with former Walleye teammate Darian Dziurzynski. ... Midway through the second, defenseman Ryan Obuchowski prevented a Fuel goal by tying up Shalla.

Contact Mark Monroe at: mmonroe@theblade.com, 419-724-6354, or on Twitter @MonroeBlade.

First Published April 20, 2018, 3:03 a.m.