ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Beat Lynx 5-2 in Preseason Game

Published on October 10, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


The Gwinnett Gladiators ground out a 5-2 win over the Augusta Lynx on Friday night in the team's only preseason game in preparation for the 2008-09 season.

If Friday's exhibition game in Augusta was any indication of what the regular season holds for Gwinnett, the Gladiators off season upgrade of toughness and grit paid off in a physical contest the contest as the two teams combined for 50 penalty minutes in the game.

The Gladiators took advantage of their power play opportunities as they used four power play goals to get past the Lynx while netminder Charlie Effinger posted 17 saves for the preseason win for Gwinnett.

Gwinnett jumped out to a 2-0 led on the Lynx after the first period with a pair of power play goals. Jeff Mason broke the scoreless tie with a slap shot from the right point that careened off the cross bar past Joel Martin at 8:19 of the period for the marker.

Marty Mjelleli pushed the Gladiators lead to two goals late in the first period. Battling in front of the Augusta net, Mjelleli was able to corral a pass from Josh Engel and beat Martin from the slot for the goal. The second power play goal of the contest gave the Gladiators the 2-0 lead.

Mason's second goal of the night pushed the Gwinnett lead to 3-0 a little over five minutes into the second period. It was the third power play goal for Gwinnett as Mason netted his second marker in similar fashion to his first that he scored back in the first period, ripping a laser through traffic from the point. Mason finished with a team high 3 points in the win adding an assist later in the contest.

The fourth power play goal of the game got Augusta on the board late in the second period. Dallas Steward crashed the Gladiators net and jammed the puck past Effiniger to break the shutout. The marker came with a little less than two minutes to play in the middle period just seconds after Augusta went on the power play.

The two teams exchanged goals in the third period with Augusta cutting the lead to 4-2 at the 4:45 mark of the third period on a goal by Matt Auffrey. Pat Bateman regained the three-goal advantage for Gwinnett at 11:34 of the third period on the power play. Finishing an odd man rush, Bateman beat Pier-Olivier Pelletier, who replaced Martin half way through the second, for the goal.

Training camp continues on Saturday as the Gladiators prepare for the regular season which opens on Saturday, October 18th at the Arena at Gwinnett Center as they host the Mississippi Sea Wolves at 7:05 p.m.

Began in 1988-89 with five teams playing in four states, the Premier 'AA' Hockey League has grown into a coast-to-coast league that will have 23 teams in 16 states and British Columbia playing 864 games from Oct. 17, 2008 to Apr. 4, 2009. Eighteen of the 23 teams have played at least five years in their current city.

The third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League, the ECHL averaged 4,174 per game last season, marking the fourth year in row and the 16th time in the last 18 years that the league has averaged over 4,000 fans. The league has drawn over four million fans each of the last five years and 11 times in the past 12 seasons.

The Gwinnett Gladiators open their sixth season as a proud member of the ECHL in October of 2008 - season ticket packages are on sale now. In addition, the Gladiators offer several unique multi-game ticket packages as well as discounted group rates, suite rentals, and birthday parties. For more information call 770-497-5100 or log on to gwinnettgladiators.com.

The Gladiators are the AA affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers and play all home games at the spectacular 11,355-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center, located just off I-85 on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth, where parking is always free.

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ECHL Stories from October 10, 2008


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