Sports stats



ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Flood Everblades, 7-2

January 17, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


ESTERO, Fla. - The Gladiators (12-20-1-1) picked up arguably their most impressive win of the season Saturday night in the home arena of one of the best teams in the ECHL, the Florida Everblades (25-6-0-3), 7-2. Brenden Walker notched two goals, while Sean Berkstresser had a goal and two assists. In all, nine of the Gladiators' 18 skaters picked up points on the night.

After a competitive first ten minutes to the night, the Gladiators jumped out to the 1-0 lead on Brenden Walker's breakaway goal. Florida was challenging new Gladiators goaltender Kent Patterson with flurries of shots, and in a frantic hurry to save the puck from leaving the zone, both Florida defenseman forgot to cover Walker in the neutral zone. Will MacDonald noted the forward breaking into the offensive zone, and fed him on the 1-on-0 breakaway.

At 14:15, about three-and-a-half minutes later, Casey Pierro-Zabotel slammed the puck in the mess in front of Andy Iles for his 13th goal of the year. Pierro-Zabotel has tallied points in five of his last six games, and has four goals and five assists over that span.

The Gladiators would notch one more before the end of the period. On a 4-on-4 in the final 30 seconds of the first, MacDonald entered the zone into the slot, took a wristshot, and beat Iles over the glove hand. With the 3-0 lead after one, Gwinnett had its largest first period lead of the season, and they wouldn't look back from there.

Gwinnett tacked on two more goals in the first four minutes of the second - Greg Carey slipped one underneath Iles as he crashed the net, and Walker notched his second of the night at 3:22. After only 10 shots faced, Andy Iles was pulled for his five goals allowed, and Florida went to Allen York.

The Everblades seemed to take advantage of the switch as they got their first goal of the night at 4:18, less than a minute after the goaltending change. Mike Little rang the three posts behind Patterson, and gave the home crowd one of their few opportunities to cheer during the night.

Momentum swung back in Gwinnett's favor four minutes later. Berkstresser took a shot from the right point, and before it could reach York, Dyson Stevenson got his stick in the way, dangled left around the sprawling York, and tucked the puck in on the backhand.

The Gladiators got their seventh and final goal of the night at 14:19 of the second as Berkstresser picked up a loose puck to York's left and roofed a puck over his glovehand. The Glads targeted the Florida netminders up high all night, and it worked as they scored seven times on 26 shots - their first seven-goal game since April 12th, 2014. The four goals they scored in the second was also a season-high.

Florida snatched one goal back in the third on Mike Marquardt's power play slapshot that trickled over Patterson's shoulder. Chris Kushneriuk tapped in the loose puck in the crease for his fifth goal in his last three games.

Kent Patterson made 26 saves on 28 shots in his Gladiators debut, while Iles was 5-for-10, and York was 14-for-16. On the power play, Gwinnett was 0-for-4, and Florida was 1-for-2.

The Gladiators will head back home for another homestand, starting with their Monday matinee matchup against the Indy Fuel at 12:35 p.m. for the team's annual MLK Kids' Day out celebration.

For tickets and schedule information, visit the official team website at www.gwinnettgladiators.com or call the main office line at 770-497-5100.

The Gladiators are members of the ECHL, the nation's premier "AA" hockey league, and are affiliated with the Arizona Coyotes of the NHL. All home games are played at the 11,355-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center, located just off I-85 on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth - where parking is always free.

Check out the Atlanta Gladiators Statistics



ECHL Stories from January 17, 2015


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