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ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Win 3rd Straight

November 22, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


The Gwinnett Gladiators rode a 4 goal second period and a 4 point night by Pat Bateman to a 5-2 win over the visiting Mississippi Sea Wolves in front of 5,490 fans at the Arena at Gwinnett Center Saturday night. The Gladiators, playing the middle game of 3 games in 3 nights, jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 12 seconds into the game. Forward Jordan Fox carried the puck into the offensive zone after the opening faceoff, and passed across the crease to Brad Schell who put it in. The goal was the fastest tally to start a game in franchise history, breaking the previous mark of :13 seconds by Mike Vigilante in 2005 against Texas.

Mississippi tied the score 6 minutes later. Mike Wirll skated the puck in on a two-on-one breakaway. Gwinnett goalie Josh Johnson poked the puck away from the onrushing forward, but Mathieu Melanson cleaned up the loose puck and put in the equalizer. The scored remained tied through the first intermission.

5 minutes into the second period, Bruce Graham scored to give the Gladiators a lead that would not be relinquished for the rest of the game. Pat Bateman and Jim Jorgensen picked up the assists.

Gwinnett forward Matt Siddall added to the lead 14 minutes into the period. The forward grabbed a rebound off of a Jeff Dunne shot, and carried it behind the net before tucking it on the goalie's right side. The assist was Dunne's first point with Gwinnett.

Siddall scored only 2:09 later, his third on the season. On a three-on-two breakaway, Dirk Southern carried the puck in on the right wing, centered it to Pat Bateman, who passed it over to Siddall on the left wing who roofed it over netminder Ryan Munce.

Pat Bateman closed the scoring for Gwinnett late in the second. With Mississippi on the power play, Bateman stole the puck in the neutral zone and beat the goalie on a crossover move for the shorthanded goal.

Mississippi tacked a goal on in the third, but could not come any closer than the 5-2 final score. First star Pat Bateman finished the night with 1 goal, 3 assists, and a plus 4 rating in the third straight win for Gwinnett.

Both teams registered 28 shots, which marks the first game all season in which Gwinnett did not outshoot its opponent.

Gwinnett improves to 6-4-3 on the season. The Gladiators continue action Sunday night, taking on the Charlotte Checkers on the road.

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 23 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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