IceGators Defeat Gladiators 4-3 in Shootout

March 9, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release


Gwinnett, GA - Ben Storey and Konstantin Kalmikov both scored in a shoot-out to help the Louisiana IceGators to a 4-3 victory over the Gwinnet Gladiators. The IceGators are now 42-16-2 with 86 points in the ECHL standings.

The Gladiators put up the first goal when Kevin Doell beat Gator Frederic Cloutier at the 9:55 mark of the first period. The goal did not stand for long.

With the Gators on the power play, Ed McGrane won the face-off and skated to the front of the net while Bobby Brown and Alex Materukhin played give-and-go across the Gladiators zone. Materukhin slid the puck to McGrane, who wristed it past Trevor Prior.

The second period saw the two teams trade goals and ended with the a 3-2 Gators lead. Milt Mastad scored his third goal of the year when he corralled a rebound and beat Prior from in front of the net. Bobby Brown fed the puck to Alex Materukhin from the blue line. Prior was unable to hold on to the shot and Mastad was there to capitalize on the rebound.

Gwinnett pulled within one goal on a backhander from Brandon Dietrich that beat Frederic Cloutier on the rebound.

Alex Materukhin scored his 24th of the year, short-handed. With Berzins in the box, the Gators won the face-off in their own end. Maxime Fortunus cleared the puck down to the Gwinnett end. Gwinnet goaltender Jeff Dotson, making his professional debut when Prior had equipment problems, mishandled the puck. Materukhin stole it and blasted it into the net.

Wes Swinson scored the tying goal with 16:17 left in the game. The IceGators were unable to solve Prior in the third period and the game went into overtime.

Both goaltenders were perfect in the extra frame and the game was decided by a shootout. Cloutier and Prior both stopped the first three shots. Ben Storey was the fourth shooter for the IceGators. Storey walked in from the blue and beat Prior between the pads. Cloutier staved off the fourth Gwinnett shooter and Konstantin Kalmikov stepped up to the blue line. Kalmikov skated in on Prior and beat him on the low glove side to seal the win.

The IceGators travel to Charlotte to play the Checkers tomorrow at 6 p.m. They will stay in Charlotte for a second game on Friday at 6:30 p.m. They will come back to the Cajundome for a tilt against the Columbus Cottonmouths on St. Patrick's Day. Fans who wear green will get $2 off their tickets at the Cajundome box office. There will also be a costume contest and $2 green beer.



ECHL Stories from March 9, 2004


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