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ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators lose to Sea Wolves 6-1

February 20, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


Biloxi, MS - The Mississippi Sea Wolves used three power play goals to beat the Gwinnett Gladiators 6-1 in Friday night at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Gwinnett slips back to a game under .500 with a 22-23-5 record on the season in the loss.

Mississippi took a 1-0 lead on the Gladiators 12:55 into the first period with the only goal of the opening stanza. Bill LeClerc ripped a slapshot from the left wing point through traffic past Gladiators netminder Josh Johnson for the goal. Alexandre Parent and Mathieu Melanson had the assists on the goal for the Sea Wolves.

The Sea Wolves added a pair of power play goal in the second period to take a 3-0 lead on the Gladiators after two period. Mike Berry beat Johnson from point blank range for the first of the two power play goals giving Mississippi a 2-0 lead on the Gladiators. Melanson and Jeff Kyrzakos notched the assists on the power play goal for the Sea Wolves at 10:44 of the second period.

Melanson added his third point of the game for the Sea Wolves finding a loose puck in the slot and flicking the puck past Johnson giving Mississippi 3-0 lead on Gwinnett. Ryan Cruthers and Jeff Kyrzakos notched the assists on the second power play goal of the middle stanza for the Sea Wolves. The power play goal came at 11:24 of the second period.

Mississippi extended its lead to 4-0 just 1:25 into the third period on Melanson's second consecutive goal of the contest. LeClerc and Kyle Peto notched the assists on the goal for the Sea Wolves.

Johnson was chased from the Gwinnett net in favor of Dan Turple on Mark Rooneem's marker for Mississippi just 2:04 into the third period giving the Sea Wolves a 5-0 lead on the Gladiators. Rooneem beat Johnson over the shoulder for the marker. Martin Frechette and Mike Nesdill had the helpers on the goal for the Sea Wolves.

Tom Zanoski broke Ryan Munce's shutout bid for the Sea Wolves at 7:53 of the third period jamming a loose puck along the goal line past the netmidner for the only Gwinnett goal of the game. Scott Marchesi and Jordan Fox had the helpers on the goal for Gwinnett.

Mississippi added a 6th goal at 11:16 of the third on the power play. Mike Berry walked down the right wing and slipped past the Gladiators defense before sliding into the slot and rolling the puck past Turple for the goal. Kyrzakos and Nesdill posted the assists on the goal for Mississippi.

Turple finished with 7 saves for Gwinnett in the contest while Johnson made 17 in the losing effort for Gwinnett. The Gladiators gave up 3 power play goals to the Sea Wolves on four chances in the loss while going 0-for-4 on the power play.

The Gladiators continue the 2008-09 season on the road as they battle the Mississippi Sea Wolves at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on Saturday, February 21, 2009 at 8:05 p.m.

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.

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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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