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ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators beat Ice Pilots, 6-3

March 24, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


The Gwinnett Gladiators clinched a first round bye in the 2006 Kelly Cup Playoffs by beating the Pensacola Ice Pilots 6-3 on Friday night at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. The Gladiators win, coupled with a Greenville loss against Charlotte, clinched the first round bye for Gwinnett. The Gladiators are scheduled to open the 2006 Kelly Cup Playoffs on April 15th with the first game of their second round series.

Gwinnett got two goals from Rick Emmett in the win, while Joel Stepp and Scott Mifsud each finished with three assists for the Gladiators.

Rick Emmett posted his 3rd goal of the season to give the Gladiators the first lead of the game. Streaking in from the point, Emmett took a feed from Scott Mifsud behind the Pensacola net and ripped a shot past Dustin Traylen 4:33 into the first. Joel Stepp also had an assist on the marker.

The Gladiators pushed the lead to 2-0 on Emmett's second goal of the contest at the 10:43 mark of the first period. Brad Schell fed Emmett at the point to pick up an assist on the goal and moved his team season high point-scoring streak to 12 games. Derek Nesbitt also had a helper on the marker.

Jeff Dwyer gave Gwinnett a 3-0 lead with a slap shot through traffic past Traylen or the power play goal. Stepp and Mifsud again hooked to to pick up the assists on the goal. The goal came with 4:10 left in the first period.

Pensacola snapped Berkhoel's shutout bid 2:13 into the second period when Jan Steber pounced on a rebound and netted his 8th goal of the year. Bryson Busniuk and Nate Metcalf had the assists on the marker.

Jon Awe pushed the Gladiators lead back to three goals with Gwinnett's second power play goal of the night at the 6:30 mark of the second period. Schell fed Awe at the point to set up the tally. Nesbitt had his second helper of the night on the goal.

Cam Brown posted the Gladiators third power play goal of the game. The puck squirted to Brown parked on the door step, where the Gwinnett captain capitalized pumped the puck past Traylen for the goal. Mifsud and Stepp posted the the assists on the goal 10:55 into the second period.

Pensacola pulled within three on Luke Fulgum's marker at 7:31 into the third period. Fulgum found the back of the net after Berkhoel got bowled over in the slot, leaving the net wide open. Brendan Cook and Eric Braff had the assists on the goal.

Gwinnett took a 6-2 lead on Derek Nesbitt's 23rd tally of the year. Finding a rebound in the slot, Nesbitt flick a quick shot past Traylen for the goal. Guillaume Desbiens and Awe had the assists on the goal.

St. Jacques rounded out the scoring with Pensacola's third goal of the game with 62 seconds left in the third, but the Ice Pilots could get no closer in the loss as St. Jacques beat Berkhoel from the slot for the tally. Chris Trick and Rob Rankin had the helpers on the marker.

Gwinnett posted three power play goals in the win and are now 14 goals shy of setting the ECHL record for power play goals in a season.

Berkhoel finished with 35 saves for Gwinnett in the win as he recorded his 8th victory of the season.

The Gwinnett Gladiators, who have already clinched a 2006 Kelly Cup Playoff berth and a first round bye, continue the 2005-06 ECHL season on the road as Gwinnet travels to Pensacola to take on the Ice Pilots at 8:05 p.m. The Gladiators offer several ticket packages for different needs as well as group outings, suites and birthday parties. For more information call 770-497-5100 or log on to gwinnettgladiators.com.

The Gladiators play all 36 home games at the Arena at Gwinnett Center located on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth and are the AA affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers.

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