ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Post 3-2 Comeback Win on Sea Wolves

December 14, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


BILOXI, MS - The Gwinnett Gladiators knocked off the Mississippi Sea Wolves 3-2 on a late goal by Jeff Mason on Sunday night at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Gwinnett improves to 11-9-4 on the season and moves back into sole possession of fourth place in the ECHL's South Division as Charlotte lost in regulation on Sunday afternoon as well.

Mason notched the game winner with just three minutes left in the third period as he slid across the blue line and fluttered the puck to the front of the net where it eluded Mississippi netminder Riku Helenius for the goal. Brandon Kalenicki had an assist on the goal as he rolled the puck back to Mason at the point to set up the tally.

For the second consecutive game, Mississippi jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead on the Gladiators. Just 1:11 into the first period Mathieu Melanson crashed the Gladiators net and jammed the puck past Gwinnett goaltender Josh Johnson for the goal. Kyle McAllister and Travis Lisabeth notched the assists on the marker for the Sea Wolves.

Mississippi pushed their lead to 2-0 at 5:52 of the first period. Jeremy Hall slipped past the Gladiators defensemen and walked down the right wing wall before ripping a snapshot that eluded Johnson for the goal. Jason Tejchma and Ryan Menei hooked up to set up Hall on the goal for Mississippi.

Gwinnett answered with a pair of goals in the second period to send the game tied 2-2 into the third. Dan Sullivan got the Gladiators first goal of the game when he squeezed the puck through the legs of Helenius to cut the Mississippi lead back to a goal. Sullivan took a rink wide pass from Bruce Graham and slipped down the right wing before beating Helenius at 4:34 of the second period.

Kaleniecki's sixth goal of the season on a 5-on-3 power play tied the contest at two. Graham added his second assist of the game as he was able to find Kalenickei hanging out all alone on the far post to set up the goal. Jordan Fox also had an assist on the power power play goal for Gwinnett at 13:24 of the second period. Kaleniecki's marker set the stage for Mason's game winner late in the third period for Gwinnett.

Josh Joshnson finshed with 16 saves for the Gladiators in win. Gwinnett went 1-for-6 on the power play while holding the Sea Wolves off the board on six chances onthe man advantage in the contest.

The Gladiators return to action on Tuesday, December 16th as they host the Elmira Jackals at the Arena at Gwinnett Center at 7:05 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 22 teams in 16 states and British Columbia playing 810 games from Oct. 17, 2008 to Apr. 4, 2009. Seventeen of the 22 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.

Check out the Atlanta Gladiators Statistics



ECHL Stories from December 14, 2008


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