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ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Down Stingrays 6-5 in OT

January 9, 2010 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


Rookie All-Star Sam Roberts scored 2:14 into overtime to lift the Gladiators to their first win in six games and their first victory over the South Carolina Stingrays since back-to-back 5-2 wins in North Charleston on November 20 and 21. In an up and down game, which saw four lead changes, the young Gladiators squad came through in the clutch, to halt a 0-4 skid against the Stingrays and earn an important two points in the South Division standings.

Shortly after Gladiators' Matt Siddall and South Carolina's Trevor Bruess dropped the gloves for a fight, the Gladiators got on the board with Drew Paris' first goal in nearly a month at the 8:28 mark of the opening period. Adam Berti collected the puck in his own zone and skated down the right wing boards and into the South Carolina end. His first centering pass came right back to his own stick, but his second deflected off of Paris, who was set up in front, and fluttered past the Stingray's net minder Shane Connelly and into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.

Jason Lawrence made it 2-0, for the second night in a row, 11:51 into the first on a 2-on-1 with Chris Higgins. Higgins hit Lawrence with a pass entering the South Carolina zone and, reading Connelly's position perfectly, unleashed a blistering wrist shot that beat the Stingrays net minder high on the glove side. Higgins picked up his first professional point on the play.

But just a minute later, the Stingrays would find the back of the net, as Keith Johnson netted his team-leading 34th point. Johnson accepted a pass from Nate Kiser entering the Gladiators' zone and beat Gwinnett defenseman Tim Finalgeiri wide on the left wing boards. Controlling the puck below the goal line, Johnson took advantage of the lone defenseman remaining in front of the net and walked in front uncontested and tucked a shot under Gwinnett goaltender Danny Taylor, cutting the Gladiators' lead to 2-1.

Shots at the end of the period were 13-10 in favor of South Carolina.

The Stingrays evened the score at two 3:19 into the middle frame on predictable sloppy second period breakdowns. After repeated efforts to clear their own zone were unsuccessful, Tim Miller overskated a puck in the zone, and Keith Johnson swooped in and fired a shot from the just above the hash marks which redirected off the inside of the near post and into the back of the net for his second straight marker.

Dylan Yeo then scored the Stingrays' third consecutive goal at 7:49 of the second period, a shorthanded marker, to take a 3-2 lead on assists from Trevor Bruess and Trent Campbell.

But Dan Sullivan hammered home a rebound just two minutes later after a Scott Marchesi shot from the right wing boards to pull the Gladiators even at three.

Just over three minutes after Sullivan knocked home his fourth of the season, Matt Siddall sniped a shot from the high slot on a pass from Scott Mifsud to give the Gladiators their second lead of the game at 4-3.

But the Stingrays would respond with goals by Rob Ricci at 14:24 and Jake Hauswirth at 17:38 to steal back the lead and take a 5-4 margin into the locker room after 40 minutes of play.

The Gladiators were again outscored in the second period, this time by two goals, for a total of 13-3 in their past five games.

Scott Mifsud pulled the Gladiators even at five at 10:37 of the third period, jamming home a rebound in front of the net off of a shot from Aaron Brocklehurst for his first goal since scoring two in a November 7 loss to Kalamazoo at home.

Regulation would end knotted at five, and the contest would move into overtime, familiar territory for the two teams, who played past regulation in the first five contests against each other this season.

Rookie All-Star Sam Roberts lifted the Gladiators to their first win in six games and their first victory over the Stingrays since back to back 5-2 victories on November 20 and 21 on South Carolina's own ice with a scorching slap shot from the top of the left face off circle that beat Connelly high on the glove side at 2:14 of the overtime period for the 6-5 overtime triumph. Matt Siddall led an odd-man rush into the Stingrays' zone and left a drop pass for Roberts just after crossing the blue line, and Roberts didn't miss for his first game-winning goal of the season.

Danny Taylor stopped 40 of 45 shots to earn his first victory since a 3-0 shutout on the road at Wheeling on December 11 and moves to 8-6-1-2 on the season.

Shane Connelly lost his first contest in a South Carolina sweater, stopping 37 of 43 Gwinnett shots and moves to 5-7-2-1 on the season between Johnstown and South Carolina.

Despite the high scoring affair, neither team was able to capitalize on the power play, each finishing 0-3.

With the win, the Gwinnett moves to 16-13-2-2, winning just their seventh home game on the season. The cellar-dwelling Gladiators had a good chance to make up ground on each of the other three teams in the South Division, as Florida and Charlotte were both trailing by multiple goals late in their respective third periods in contests against East and North Division teams.

Despite the victory, the Gladiators set a new team record for consecutive games without a regulation win, extending the current streak to 10.

The Gladiators head to North Charleston, South Carolina tomorrow for their third game in three nights against the Stingrays before visiting Charlotte on Wednesday before returning to the Arena at Gwinnett Center next Saturday night in a home contest against the Checkers.

The Gladiators are the AA affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers and Columbus Blue Jackets and play all home games at the 11,355-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center, located just off I-85 on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth.

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