ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Crush Walleye 5-1

Published on February 6, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


The Gwinnett Gladiators scored four unanswered goals and held the conference's best power play unit to just one goal in six chances, and the Gladiators beat the Toledo Walleye 5-1, completing a two-game sweep in front of 8,559 at the Arena at Gwinnett Center Saturday night. Goaltender Danny Taylor stopped all but one of Toledo's 38 shots, and Scott Mifsud had four points to lead Gwinnett to their first three-game win streak of the season.

Chris Higgins notched his fifth power play goal in just his 11th game with the Gladiators at 7:30 of the second period, putting the Gwinnett up 2-1, and they never looked back, adding two more power play goals in the second and a even-strength goal in the third before holding on down the stretch for an important win and a pair of points in the standings.

Gwinnett broke a scoreless deadlock 16:10 into the opening period when Chris Higgins, fresh off a call-up to AHL Syracuse, found a wide-open Scott Mifsud in front of the net, and his wrist shot squirted through Toledo goaltender Alec Richards for his 12th of the season and a 1-0 lead.

A slow start to the middle period quickly turned into a scoring onslaught for the home team.

Maxime Tanguay evened the score for the Walleye at the 6:49 mark of the middle frame with a power play goal and his team-leading 45th point. With Scott Mifsud in the box for tripping, Tanguay fired home a rebound from the bottom of the right faceoff circle to tie the game at one.

Higgins' goal came just 41 seconds later, and Sam Roberts repeated the effort with a power play goal of his own at 14:03 to give the Gladiators a two-goal advantage. Working deep in the zone, Dan Sullivan sent a pass through the slot to Roberts, who was camped out on the far post. He lifted a shot over Richards for his ninth goal of the season. Scott Mifsud also picked up an assist on the play, as he extended his point streak to six games, while Sullivan stretched his to seven.

Mifsud and Sullivan then connected for a third Gladiator power play goal with just over two minutes to go in the period. Mifsud found Sullivan set up between the hash marks, and his wrist shot beat Richards high on the glove side for the 4-1 lead.

Toledo committed five minor penalties in the period, compared to the Gladiators' two.

Chad Denny scored the Gladiators' fourth consecutive goal 32 seconds into the third period just as a carry-over Toledo penalty expired. Denny ripped a laser from the left point over Richards' glove and just under the crossbar to extend Gwinnett's lead to 5-1. Sam Roberts was credited with his first assist of the game, and Scott Mifsud collected his third.

Taylor and the Gladiators' penalty kill then took over, killing off three straight penalties and milked the clock down to secure their third straight victory and back to back home wins for just the second time all season.

The Gladiators improve to 22-19-3-2, while the Walleye dropped their fifth of the last seven and fall to 25-18-1-3 on the year.

Four Gladiators recorded multiple point outings, as the special teams competition leaned heavily in favor of Gwinnett, who scored on three of seven man-advantages.

The Gladiators will look to make it four in a row next week, as they head South for two important divisional match ups with the Florida Everblades on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

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ECHL Stories from February 6, 2010


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