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ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Win 3rd Straight At Home

March 21, 2010 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


The Gwinnett Gladiators scored three goals, including two by Matt Caruana, in the third period, to rally over the Trenton Devils and earn two crucial points in the ever-tightening American Conference standings in front of 5,312 at The Arena at Gwinnett Center Sunday afternoon. After taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, the Gladiators gave up two goals in the middle frame before notching three unanswered tallies in the final period, as Gwinnett earned their third consecutive victory on home ice.

Matt Caruana notched the go-ahead marker with under five minutes remaining in regulation on a scrum in front of the Trenton cage, taking a 3-2 lead less than two minutes after Dan Sullivan tipped in the tying goal on a shot from Drew Paris at the blue line. The first three goals by Gwinnett all came with the man advantage.

The Gladiators opened the scoring on their second power play, when Mike McLean stuffed a puck through Trenton goaltender Dave Caruso on the short side at 15:53 of the opening period for a 1-0 lead, after Jeremy Akeson was assessed a hooking penalty at 15:04.

But fortunes turned against the Gladiators in the second period. After stopping an initial shot from Trenton's Jeff Prough, Gwinnett goaltender David Brown's backwards momentum carried the puck just across the line as he tried to freeze it under his glove, and the Devils were credited with a goal after further review by the officials at 11:11 of the period.

The Devils then took their first lead of the game at 15:49 when a deflection in the slot landed on the stick of an open Slavomir Tomko, and his shot found the back of the net through heavy traffic in front of the Gwinnett net. After two periods, Trenton led Gwinnett 20-18 in shots on goal.

Soon after killing off a brief 5-on-3 Trenton advantage, Dan Sullivan notched his goal to tie the game at two, and Caruana gave Gwinnett the lead soon after.

The Devils then pulled goaltender Dave Caruso in favor of the extra attacker with just over a minute remaining in regulation, but just as he was exiting the ice, Caruana lifted a saucer shot from his own defensive zone, and it lazily found the back of the empty net, effectively icing the game for the Gladiators, who won their third straight and fifth of the last six games on home ice.

Tempers boiled over numerous times in the rubber match of the season series between the squads, as four misconduct and three major penalties were assessed, including two misconducts following the final horn. But the Gladiators, other than a brief 5-on-3 disadvantage, largely stayed out of penalty trouble and avoided surrendering any power play goals to the Devils in four chances. Meanwhile, each of the first three Gwinnett goals came on the power play, as the Gladiators finished 3-for-8 with the man advantage.

Gwinnett earned their 30th victory of the season, improving to 30-28-4-3, as net minder David Brown earned his first victory since nearly shutting out the Charlotte Checkers in a 2-1 victory on January 16th, five starts ago. Meanwhile, former Gwinnett goaltender Dave Caruso suffered his third loss in as many nights after winning three straight, and the Devils drop under.500 at 28-29-5-4.

Gwinnett continues their five-game home stand with yet another pivotal match up against current eighth-place Reading on Wednesday night, as they push for their seventh playoff berth in seven years.

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