ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Knock off Everblades 3-1

January 23, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


The Gwinnett Gladiators defeated Florida for the second time this season, knocking off the Everblades 3-1 on Friday night at the Germain Arena. Gwinnett to .500 on the season with the win, improving to 17-17-4 on the year and remain in fourth place in the ECHL's South Division.

Travis Fuller broke a scoreless tie late in the second period. Parked along the goal line to the far post, Fuller tapped the puck past Everblades netminder Anton Khudobin for the goal off a pass through traffic from Jeff Dunne. In his first game with Gwinnett, Mike Looby notched an assist on the goal for Gwinnett at 18:04 of the second period.

Florida equalized the contest at 7:49 of the third period on Kevin Baker's 31st goal of the season. Parked all alone in the slot, Baker ripped the puck past Gladiators netminder Kevin Regan for the goal. Ross Carlson and Mark Lee notched the assists on the goal for Florida.

Scott Marchesi answered for the Gladiators three minutes later to regain the lead for Gwinnett. Marchesi found the puck in a pile up in front of the net before punching it past Khudobin for the marker. Jean-Claude Sawyer and Matt Siddall collected the assists on the goal for the Gladiators at 10:44 of the third period.

Dirk Southern put the game away for the Gladiators with less than two minutes left in the third period on the power play. Andy Brandt intercepted a Florida pass and fed Southern on a break down the left wing. Southern then ripped a slapshot to the far post past Khudobin for the power play goal with 1:32 left in the third period.

Regan finished with 28 saves as he collected his first win after being assigned to Gwinnett from the Providence Bruins. Gwinnett finished 1-for-6 on the man advantage in the win while holding the Everblades scoreless on the power play on five chances in the contest.

The Gladiators continue the 2008-09 season on the road Saturday, January 24th at 7:30 p.m. as they take on the Florida Everblades in Estero, Florida.

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 21 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 open their sixth season as a proud member of the ECHL in October of 2008 - 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.

Check out the Atlanta Gladiators Statistics



ECHL Stories from January 23, 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