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ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Rays Pull Away in the Third, Top Gwinnett 5-2

February 23, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


DULUTH, Ga. - The Gwinnett Gladiators traded goals back and forth with the top team in the East Sunday afternoon, but the South Carolina Stingrays pulled away for a 5-2 win at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.

Starting goaltenders Max Strang and Andrew Loewen were up to the task in the first period, with Strang making 10 stops for South Carolina to Loewen ' s nine. Strang was filling in for usual Stingrays goaltender Jeff Jaikaitis, while Loewen was brought into Gwinnett early Sunday morning after Mathieu Corbeil was injured in Saturday night's game. Both have spent the majority of the season in the Southern Professional Hockey League - Loewen with the Columbus Cottonmouths, Strang with the Bloomington Thunder.

The second period started off just as quiet as the first period was for the first 12 minutes, but the action turned very quickly shortly thereafter. Wayne Simpson opened the scoring at 12:44 on a broken play when the Stingrays entered the zone 2-on-1. Luke Greiner took the initial bloked shot from point blank range, but the rebound popped out to the low slot in front of Simpson, who buried the second chance.

23 seconds later, the Gladiators captain, Joey Haddad, tied the score on an acrobatic tip-in. Jerome Gauthier-Leduc took the initial slap shot from the right point, and Haddad, who was skating away from the net, reached behind and redirected the shot nearly 90 degrees behind Strang's back.

Peter Boyd capped off a wild two minutes with a goal of his own 25 seconds after Haddad's. Boyd, who leads the Stingrays with 18 goals and 29 points, added to his lead in goals against the Gladiators with his goal and eventual two assists. He's now up to five goals and 10 assists against the division rivals.

Boyd also set up Jack Downing with an empty net at 18:15 to give South Carolina a 3-1 lead, but Dirk Southern made it competitive with a looping, sprawling approach to the net just squeaking the puck underneath Strang's right skate and to the back of the net at 18:29.

In the third, South Carolina padded their lead with a power play goal from Dale Mitchell at 3:05, and then Wayne Simpson at 9:51. Loewen stopped 20 of the 25 shots he faced, while Strang allowed two goals on 31 shots.

The Gladiators will return to the Arena at Gwinnett Center ice this Tueday to take on the Evansville IceMen for College Student Night. To purchase tickets, please visitwww.gwinnettgladiators.com, or call the main office line at 770-497-5100.

The Gladiators are members of the ECHL, the nation's premier "AA" hockey league and are affiliated with the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL. All home games are played at the 11,355-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center, located just off I-85 on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth.

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