ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Fly by Ice Pilots, 7-4

Published on December 30, 2006 under ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


The Gwinnett Gladiators dominated the Pensacola Ice Pilots for the first two period and skated away with a 7-4 win on Friday Saturday night on the Your Best Rate Financial Home Ice at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Bruce Mulherin and Brad Schell each finished with a goal and two assists while Mike Vigilante chipped in three assists to help the Gladiators improve to 17-10-4 on the season.

Pensacola broke a scoreless tie early in the first period. Travis Lisabeth was able to beat Gladiators netminder Dave Caruso from the left wing circle as Caruso got caught out of his net trying to deflect a centering pass. Nikita Korovkin and Mike Wirll had the assists on the goal for the Ice Pilots at the 4:55 mark of the first period.

Gwinnett stormed back with four goals before the end of the opening period. Chad Painchaud equalized the contest at one with his 8th goal of the sesaon as he beat Pensacola netminder Ben Gray on a breakaway for the marker. Mike Vigilante sprung Painchaud on the breakaway to pick up an assist on the goal for the Gladiators at the 7:30 mark of the first period.

Jamie Milam gave Gwinnett a 2-1 lead with a power play goal at the 14:31 mark of the first period as he ripped a slapshot past Gray from the right wing point. Joel Stepp and Bruce Mulherin had the assists on the goal, setting up Milam at the point for the power play goal.

Gwinnett took a two goal lead on Brad Schell's 14th goal of the season as the Gladiators forward stripped the puck from a Pensacola defenseman and threw the puck in the back of the net past Gray for the goal. Schell's marker came unassisted at the 15:03 mark of the first period.

Blue Bennefield gave Gwinnett a 4-1 lead with his 6th goal of the season as the forward jammed the puck past Gray on a wrap around try just 37 seconds after Schell gave the Gladiators a two goal cushion. Stepp and Mulherin hooked up again as both forwards collected their second assists of the evening for the Gladiators.

Jon Awe collected his 15th goal of the season as he ripped a slapshot past Gray just 1:45 into the second period on the power play. Schell fed Awe at the point to set up the power play goal as he rolled the puck to the point. Vigilante also had an assist on the mark er for Gwinnett.

The Gladiators added to their lead on Scott Mifsud's 13th goal of the season. Walking out of the corner on the power play, Mifsud danced into the slot and beat Gray for the power play goal. Schell and Vigilante posted the assists on the goal as they cycled the puck deep in the Ice Pilots zone before setting up Mifsud's goal at the 5:44 mark of the second period.

Bruce Mulherin collected his second goal of the season as he ripped a snap shot past Gray with just 37 seconds left in the middle stanza. Finishing a 2-on-1 break with Colton Fretter, Mulherin jammed the puck past Gray for the goal as he was moving down the right wing size. Bryan Dobek also had an assist on the marker for the Gladiators.

David Wrigley cut the Gladiators lead to five goals as he beat Caruso as an Ice Pilots power play expired. Parked in the slot, Wrigley took a pass from John Hecimovic in the slot and beat Carsuo for the marker. Dwayne Hay also collected an assist on the marker at the 1:57 mark of the third period.

Hay then got the Ice Pilots back within four goals as he ripped a snapshot past Caruso at the 10:39 mark of the third period. Hecimovic and Wrigley had the assists on the Ice Pilots goal.

Sergi Ogorodnikov rounded out the scoring in the contest as he collected the Ice Pilots third goal of the final stanza at the 12:02 mark of the third period. Dallas Steward and Rob Rankin had the assists on the power play goal for the Ice Pilots to get within three goals and a 7-4 final.

Caruso finished with 35 saves in the win for the Gladiators as Gwinentt was outshot by the Ice Pilots 39-30 in the victory. Gwinnett went 3-for-6 on the power play while Pensacola was successful on 1 of 6 power play chances for the Gladiators.

The American Conference Champion Gwinnett Gladiators continue their fourth season on the road as they travel to Augusta to take on the Lynx on Thursday, January 4th at 7:35 p.m. The Gladiators offer several ticket packages for different needs as well as group outings, suites and birthday parties. For more information call 770-497-5100 or log on to www.gwinnettgladiators.com.

The Gladiators play all 36 home games on the Your Best Rate Financial Home Ice at the Arena at Gwinnett Center located on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth and are the AA affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers.

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ECHL Stories from December 30, 2006


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.

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