Sports stats



ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Fall to Wings

December 18, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


A tight game into the third period saw Kalamazoo pull away to get the victory. With a 1-0 lead after 2 periods of play, Kalamazoo struck just 31 seconds into the third and then again 5 minutes later to hand the Gladiators their second straight road loss.

The Gladiators continued a new trend we have seen develop during this 5-game road trip, as neither team was able to crack the scoreboard in the first period. The Gladiators had an opportunity on the Applebees power play early in the 1st period, but it would be the Wings who got the best chance. Ryan McGinnis found a seam through the neutral zone and sailed in on a clean breakaway. David Brown made a nice blocker save for Gwinnett to prevent the shorthanded marker. The Gladiators outshot the Wings in the first period 13 to 11.

The scoreless tie would be broken by the Wings a little less than half-way through the second period. A shot from the left wing by Ryan McGinnis was stopped by Brown, but the rebound was chopped out of mid-air by Darryl Bootland and into the back of the net. Mathieu Curadeau also assisted on the marker at the 7:37 mark.

The scoring would open up in the third period, and the Wings struck first just 31 seconds into the period. While on a 5-on-3 power play, Matt Jones would find the back of the net. Tom Morrow had the puck up at the point and worked in down low to Sam Ftorek. Ftorek fed it across the net to Jones, who slammed it home giving the Wings a 2-0 lead.

Kalamazoo would strike again to go up 3-0 at the 5:25 mark of the period. Kalamazoo took a shot from the near side point that ricocheted off traffic in front of the net. Curadeau had an empty net inside the left post and hit it to put the Wings up 3-0.

The Gladiators finally broke the shutout bid of Tyson Sexsmith at the 13:11 mark. Matt Siddall worked the puck in along the left wing side, and found some room over the right shoulder of Sexmith. Brian Kaufman and Chad Denny assisted on the goal.

The Wings struck right back against the Gladiators, as scoring at the 13:55 mark was Brian McGuirk, putting the Wings right back up by 3.

Adam Berti would get the game's final marker with just under 2 minutes remaining. A mad scramble in front of the net eventually found the puck bouncing back to Berti, who tucked it under the crossbar. Jason Lawrence and Patrick Galivan received assists on the goal at 18:10 of the third.

The Gladiators fall to 13-9-2-1 while Kalamazoo improved to 16-7-2-0.

Check out the Atlanta Gladiators Statistics

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from December 18, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central