ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators clipped by Checkers in 4-3 loss

March 14, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


Charlotte, NC - The Gwinnett Gladiators could not hold a pair of first period leads in a 4-3 loss to the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday night at the Time Warner Cable Arena. Gwinnett falls to 26-28-6 on the season with the loss.

Jean-Claude Sawyer gave the Gladiators a 1-0 lead with his 6th goal of the season just 48 seconds into the period. Charlotte netminder Jeff Jakaitis got a piece of Sawyer's slapshot from just inside the Checkers blueline before the puck rolled into the net. Dirk Southern and Tom Zanoski each had an assist on the goal for Gwinnett that stood for the remainder of the opening period giving Gwinnett a 1-0 lead at the first intermission.

Charlotte tied the contest at one just 2:24 into the second period on the power play. Lee Falardeau picked up a rebound to the right of the net and beat Gwinnett netmidner Dan Turple from a bad angle for the goal. Mike Bayrack and Ethan Graham had the assists on the goal for the Checkers.

Brennan Turner's 4th goal of the season regained the lead for Gwinnett at 9:43 of the second period. Turner ripped a slaphost from the blue line past Jakaitis for the goal. Matt Siddall and Adam Berti collected the assists on the marker for the Gladiators cycling the puck deep in the zone before feeding a waiting Turner at the blue line.

Charlotte took a 3-2 lead on Gwinnett with a pair of goals from Mike Bayrack just two and a half minutes apart in the second period. His first came at 10:29 of the second period as he picked up a rebound in the slot and beat Turple for the marker. Chris Murray and Marty Guerin had the assists on the goal for the Checkers.

Bayrack's second goal of the night came on the power play. Working in on an odd man rush with Chris Capraro, Bayrack beat Turple to finish the play to give the Checkers a 3-2 lead. Falardeau had an assist on the power play goal at 12:41 of the second period.

Gwinnett answered shorthanded to tie the game at three. Coming off the bench off a line change, Andy Brandt took a centering pass out of the corner and ripped a wrist shot over the shoulder of Jakaitis from the slot for the marker. Brandon Kaleniecki had an assist on the shorthanded goal for Gwinnett at 13:29 of the second period.

Charlotte took a 4-3 lead on the Gladiators on Falardeau's second goal of the game. Falardeau beat Turple on an odd man rush 32 seconds into the third period for the goal which proved to be the game winner. Murphy and Ryan Hillier worked into the Gwinnett zone with Falardeau to set up the marker.

Turple finished with 28 saves in the loss for the Gladiators. Gwinnett went 0-for-6 on the power play in the loss while Charlotte capitalized on two of five power play chances in the contest.

The Gladiators continue the 2008-09 season on Sunday, March 15th as they host the Florida Everblades at the Arena at Gwinnett Center at 4:05 p.m. catch all the play by play action on WDUN, News Talk 55.

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 March 14, 2009


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