BILOXI, MS - The Gwinnett Gladiators couldn't find the back of the net as they were shutout for the fourth time this season in a 2-0 loss to the Mississippi Sea Wolves on Wednesday night at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Gwinnett netminder Kevin Nastiuk notched 20 saves in the losing effort for Gwinnett as the Gladiators fall to 10-7-4 on the season with the loss.
Gwinnett's Matt Siddall and Mississippi's Chase Trull provied the action during the opening period just 3 seconds in to the contest as the two dropped the gloves right off the opening faceoff. Following the fight, the Gladiators and Sea Wolves skated to a quiet first period that ended as it began with neither team on the board.
Mississippi broke the scoreless tie just 3:35 into the second period. Jason Tejchma was able to find a rebound in the slot and beat Nastiuk on a second chance effort for Mississippi. Alexandre Parent and Kyle Peto collected the assists on the power play goal as they worked into the Gladiators zone setting up Tejchma on the marker.
Gwinnett had a chance to equalize the contest later in the second period on a penalty shot chance. Pat Bateman was hauled down as he muscled to the front of the Sea Wolves net at 8:54 of the period and was awareded a penalty shot by referee Steve Patafie. Bateman was denied by Sea Wolves netminder Jeremy Duchense who squeezed the five hole as the Gladiators forward was unable to thread the puck past the netmidner on the penalty shot keeping the Sea Wolves on top.
Early the third period, Gwinnett had over 2 minutes of 5-on-3 power play time but could not convert on the man advantage. Mississippi then cemented the contest with just 4:07 left in the third period. Chris Brooks deflected Mike Berry's slapshot from the high slot past Nastiuk to give Mississippi a 2-0 lead. Ryan Cruthers notched an assist on the goal for Mississippi.
The Gladiators went 0-for-9 on the power play in the contest as they were shutout for the third time this season on the road.
The Gladiators return to action on Friday, December 12th as they host the Mississippi Sea Wolves at the Arena at Gwinnett Center at 7:35 p.m.
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.
Saturday
April 12th, 2025
7:30AM
