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Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Fall to Everblades 4-2

March 31, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


Estero, FL - The Gwinnett Gladiators got goals from Brandon Kaleniecki and Jeff Mason but it wasn't enough to help the Gladiators past the Florida Everblades in a 4-2 loss on Tuesday night at the Germain Arena. Gwinnett falls to 30-33-6 on the season with the loss and remain 1.5 wins shy of clinching a 2009 Kelly Cup playoff berth.

Kaleniecki gave the Gladiators a 1-0 lead with his 11th goal of the season. Parked on the doorstep, Kaleniecki jammed the puck past Everblades netminder David Leggio from point blank range for the goal on the power play. Tom Zanoski had an assist on the goal as he set up Kaleniecki. Adam Berti also had a helper on the marker at 17:21 of the first period.

Florida answered just 36 seconds later. Kevin Baker, the ECHL's leading scorer, was able to roll the puck through the legs of Gwinnett netminder Joe Fallon for the goal. Andrew Sweetland and Milan Gajic had the assists on the goal for the Everblades with just 2:03 left in the opening stanza.

Gajic gave the Everblades a 2-1 lead 5:52 into the second period. A.J. Thelen found Gajic behind the Gladiators defense and set up Gajic on a breakaway. Gajic then walked in untouched on Fallon and beat the netminder on a breakaway for the goal. Peter Metcalf also had an assist on the goal for the Everblades.

Mason answered for the Gladiators on the power play at 14:09 of the second period. Gwinnett dug the puck out of a pile up at the Florida blue line allowing Pat Bateman and Dirk Southern to crash the Florida net before putting a shot on Leggio. The netminder gave away a big rebound in the slot that Mason found and beat Leggio for the marker for Gwinnett.

Mark Lee gave the Everblades a 3-2 lead on the Gladiators 5:39 into the third period. Lee found a loose puck in the slot and jammed it past Fallon for the marker. Ross Carlson and Steve McJannett collected the assists on the goal for Florida.

Baker added his second goal of the night to give Florida a 4-2 lead on the Gladiators at 12:23 of the third period. Baker's shot deflected straight into the air and landed behind Fallon for the goal. Sweetland and Thelen each added their second assists of the night on the goal for the Everblades to put the game away.

Fallon finished with 23 saves in the loss for the Gladiators. Gwinnett went 2-for-7 on the power play while giving up one man advantage goal on six chances to the Everblades.

The Gladiators return to action on Wednesday, April 1st as they take on the Florida Everblades at the Germain Arena in Estero, FL at 7:30m p.m. Catch all the play by play action on WDUN

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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