ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Comeback Falls Short Against Wings

Published on February 26, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


The Gladiators looked to capture two important points in the American League standings in Kalamazoo on Friday night, but fell just one goal short by a final score of 4-3. Kalamazoo led by two goals at two different points in the contest, and held on in the third despite a flurry of Gladiators shots in the final minute of the contest.

The Gladiators fell behind just before the halfway mark of the first period. On a faceoff resulting directly from a Gladiators penalty, Mathieu Curadeau won a draw back to Louis Liotti at the top of the slot. Liotti fired a shot through traffic to beat David Brown along the left post. The goal came just five seconds into the power play.

The Wings would add to their lead at the 12:42 mark. Trent Daavettila corralled a loose puck behind the Gladiators net and fired a pass out to Rick Cleaver. Cleaver found himself all alone in the slot, and ripped a shot past Brown to put the Wings up 2-0.

Tim Miller was able to cut the lead in half with less than four minutes left in the period. Michael Forney forced a turnover in the offensive zone along the left side. Forney floated a pass to Miller, who deked to his backhand and slid the puck just under the right leg pad of Ryan Nie. The Gladiators went into the first intermission trailing by a 2-1 score.

The Wings would add to their lead early on the second period. Darryl Lloyd collected a long pass through the neutral zone from Dean Strong, and snapped the puck into the top right corner of the net. Kalamazoo goaltender Ryan Nie also picked up an assist on the goal scored 7:40 into the period.

Kalamazoo added to their lead at 10:47 mark with their second power play goal of the game. Sam Ftorek was able to keep a bouncing puck in the zone and fired a shot on goal. It hit a few sticks, and eventually bounced right to Strong on the right post. Strong made no mistake on an all-but-empty net to increase the lead to 4-1 for the Wings.

Gwinnett would strike back on their first Applebees power play when Scott Mifsud cut into the Kalamazoo lead. Berti worked a puck to Dan Sullivan in the slot, who moved it quickly to Sam Roberts on the left post. Roberts found Scott Mifsud across the crease to bring the Gladiators back to within two.

Matt Francis added a goal in third period to bring the Gladiators to within one. Sam Roberts moved a puck down the right wing to Tim Miller, and Miller quickly moved a pass across to Matt Francis. Francis received a pass on the left side and the net and fired it home to bring the score to 4-3.

Unfortunately, that would be the end of the scoring, as the Gladiators fell 4-3 to the Kalamazoo Wings. The Gladiators were 1-4 on the Applebees power play, while the Wings went 2-6. The Gladiators fell to 25-24-4-2 and Kalamazoo improved to 29-17-4-3.

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ECHL Stories from February 26, 2010


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