Augusta - Gwinnett got three helpers from Tomas Pospisil but it was John Laliberte's second goal of the game 3:20 into overtime pushing the Augusta Lynx past the Gwinnett Gladiators 4-3 on Friday night at the James Brown Arena in Augusta. With the loss, the Gladiators fall to 19-7-2 on the season with the overtime loss. Lou Dickenson finished with a goal and an assist for Gwinnett in the losing effort.
Will Bodine opened the scoring at the 9:04 mark of the first period finishing a 3-on-1 break for the Lynx. Electing to take the shot, Bodine flicked the puck over the shoulder of Gladiators netminder Dan Turple for the unassisted marker to the short side.
Matt Anderson notched his second goal of the season for the Gladiators at the 5:02 mark of the second period to tie the game at one. Parked in the slot, Anderson collected a rebound and flipped the puck over the shoulder of Augusta netminder Bobby Goepfert for the marker. Tomas Pospisil had the assist on the 5-on-3 power play goal for Gwinnett.
Dickenson gave Gwinnett its first lead of the game just 78 seconds later as he snuck down the back door on the power play and redirected a centering pass behind Goepfert for the goal. Pospisil collected his second assist of the night on the power play goal for Gwinnett.
Igor Pohanka tied the game at two at the 8:18 mark of the third period beating Turple to the glove side from the top of the left wing circle. Pohanka was set up on the marker by Matt Auffrey on the third period goal.
Augusta regained the lead at the 12:08 mark of the third period. Laliberte ripped a slap shot over the shoulder of Turple for the go ahead goal for Augusta as he was wide open in the slot. Auffrey notched his second assist of the game while Adrian Veideman collected an assist on the power play goal for Augusta.
Jeff Campbell tied the game at three and sent the contest to overtime with his 6th goal of the season. Parked in the slot, Campbell took a centering feed from Lou Dickenson and ripped a snap shot over the shoulder of Goepfert for the marker. Pospisil added his third assist of the game on the goal at 16:30 of the third period.
Laliberte then otched the game winner for Augusta capitalizing on a Gladiators defensive turnover right off a faceoff to the right of Turple. Laliberte corralled the puck in the slot and and slipped it past Turple for the game winning goal at the 3:20 mark of the overtime period. Louis Goulet had an assist on the goal for the Lynx.
Turple finished with 41 saves in the overtime loss for Gwinnett. Both teams finished with a pair of power play goals in the contest as Augusta converted on 7 chances while the Gladiators had 8 power play opportunities in the overtime loss.
The Gladiators continue their fifth anniversary season on Sunday, December 30th as they travel to North Charleston, South Carolina to take on the South Carolina Stingrays at 4:05 p.m. at the North Charleston Coliseum. Catch all the play-by-play action in Sunday's game online via AccessNorthGa.com on Access raiod streamming channel 3.
Celebrating its 20th Anniversary as the Premier 'AA' Hockey League in 2007-08, the ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in three states and has grown to be a coast-to-coast league that has 25 teams in 17 states and British Columbia in 2007-08. The 25 teams includes the Mississippi (Biloxi) Sea Wolves, who return after missing two seasons in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and the expansion Elmira (N.Y.) Jackals. The ECHL will play 900 games beginning Oct. 18 and concluding Apr. 5.
The Gwinnett Gladiators continue their fifth season as a proud member of the ECHL - 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.
Tuesday
April 29th, 2025
10:46PM
