Gladiators Beat Inferno, 3-2 in Shootout Pospisil with goal and assist in win

Duluth - Matt Anderson scored his seventh goal of the season, pushed his point-scoring streak to six games and tallied the winning shootout goal as the Gwinnett Gladiators snapped their four-game losing skid beating the Columbia Inferno 3-2 at the Arena at Gwinnett Center on Monday afternoon.

The action took a while to heat up in the special Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee with neither team getting on the board in the first period. The Gladiators out shot the Inferno in the first stanza by a 12 to 5 margin. Each team was also 0-for-1 on the power play.

Columbia got the scoring started early in the second period with an even strength goal from Jeremy Hall at the 1:09 mark of the period. Hall took a centering feed from Daniel Sparre and beat Gwinnett net minder Craig Kowalski glove side for the marker. Sparre as well as Patrick Wellar picked up assists on the play.

Despite plenty of chances on the power play, neither team was able to score again in the second period. Gwinnett was unable to convert four power play tries while Columbia was scoreless on seven chances, including almost a minute on a 5-on-3 advantage.

The Inferno got on the board again in the third period with a shorthanded goal by Tyler Doig at the 7:29 point. As a 5-on-3 Gwinnett power play was ending, Doig skated out of the penalty box, intercepted a Gladiators pass and streaked for the Gwinnett goal beating Kowalski over the shoulder for the Columbia marker. The goal was unassisted.

Gwinnett got on the board late in the third with a power play goal from Matt Anderson at the 16:03 mark. On a 5-on-3 power play, the Gladiators cycled the puck around the Columbia zone with Tomas Pospisil finally finding Anderson in the slot. Anderson was able to beat Columbia goaltender Jeff Jakaitis to the glove side for the Gladiators marker. Pospisil as well as Jamie Milam got credit for the assists on the goal. With the goal, Anderson's seventh of the season, the West Islip, NY native pushed his point scoring streak to six games.

The Gladiators tied the score with just 12 seconds to play in regulation. With goalie Craig Kowalski pulled in favor of an extra attacker, Pospisil scored the game tying goal. With a traffic jam in front of the Columbia net, the 6-foot Pospisil corralled a loose puck and jammed it past Jakaitis to knot the score at two and force overtime. Jamie Milam collected his second assist of the contest on the marker and Lou Dickenson tallied a helper as well.

The teams played to a scoreless overtime period leading to a shootout where the gladiators picked up the win with goals in rounds one and four from Tomas Pospisil and Matt Anderson respectively. Gladiator goaltender Craig Kowalski meanwhile stopped four of five Columbia shooters to record the win.

Kowalski made 29 saves in the game pushing his season record to 12-5-1 while the Gladiators snapped their four-game skid to climb to 23-11-2-2 on the season.

The Gladiators continue their fifth anniversary season on Saturday, January 26th as the Gladiators travel to Pensacola to take on the Ice Pilots at 8:05 p.m. start time. Catch all the play-by-play action in Saturday's game online via AccessNorthGa.com audio stream 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.