ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Drop 6-1 Decision to Stingrays

March 27, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


Two second period goals from forward Keith Johnson helped lift the South Carolina Stingrays to a 6-1 win over the Gwinnett Gladiators on Friday, March 27th at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. The Stingrays went on the board first at 2:21 of the first period when Jeff Corey shot the puck into Gwinnett goaltender Jeff Johnson's pads and it passed between his legs. Defenseman Nate Kiser notched an assist on the goal. South Carolina went up 2-0 just four and a half minutes later with a goal from Patrick Wellar. Wellar shot the puck hard from the top of the left face-off circle and it breezed past Johnson's left pad into the bottom outside corner of the goal.

South Carolina's Johnson tallied two goals within the first ten of the second period for the Stingrays to up their lead to four. After his second goal at 9:06, Gwinnett's Johnson was pulled and Joe Fallon took over between the pipes.

At 18:36 of the middle stanza, Brandon Kaleniecki finally put the Gladiators on board when he took a backwards pass from Travis Fuller who was standing directly in front of South Carolina's Jonathan Boutin. Just under a minute later Kiser pushed the Stingrays' lead to five with a goal that left Fallon sprawled out on his back in the crease.

One minute into the final period, Travis Morin, who was standing in the Gladiators' crease, notched his 24th goal of the season on a pass from Johnson who was standing behind the net. Maxime Lacroix also notched an assist on the goal.

The Gladiators complete their two-game home stand against the Stingrays on Saturday, March 28th at the Arena at Gwinnett Center at 7:05 p.m. Catch all the play by play action on WDUN, News Talk 550.

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 continue their sixth season as a proud member of the ECHL - 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 27, 2009


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