Estero, FL - The Gwinnett Gladiators got goals from Brandon Kaleniecki and Jeff Mason but it wasn't enough to help the Gladiators past the Florida Everblades in a 4-2 loss on Tuesday night at the Germain Arena. Gwinnett falls to 30-33-6 on the season with the loss and remain 1.5 wins shy of clinching a 2009 Kelly Cup playoff berth.
Kaleniecki gave the Gladiators a 1-0 lead with his 11th goal of the season. Parked on the doorstep, Kaleniecki jammed the puck past Everblades netminder David Leggio from point blank range for the goal on the power play. Tom Zanoski had an assist on the goal as he set up Kaleniecki. Adam Berti also had a helper on the marker at 17:21 of the first period.
Florida answered just 36 seconds later. Kevin Baker, the ECHL's leading scorer, was able to roll the puck through the legs of Gwinnett netminder Joe Fallon for the goal. Andrew Sweetland and Milan Gajic had the assists on the goal for the Everblades with just 2:03 left in the opening stanza.
Gajic gave the Everblades a 2-1 lead 5:52 into the second period. A.J. Thelen found Gajic behind the Gladiators defense and set up Gajic on a breakaway. Gajic then walked in untouched on Fallon and beat the netminder on a breakaway for the goal. Peter Metcalf also had an assist on the goal for the Everblades.
Mason answered for the Gladiators on the power play at 14:09 of the second period. Gwinnett dug the puck out of a pile up at the Florida blue line allowing Pat Bateman and Dirk Southern to crash the Florida net before putting a shot on Leggio. The netminder gave away a big rebound in the slot that Mason found and beat Leggio for the marker for Gwinnett.
Mark Lee gave the Everblades a 3-2 lead on the Gladiators 5:39 into the third period. Lee found a loose puck in the slot and jammed it past Fallon for the marker. Ross Carlson and Steve McJannett collected the assists on the goal for Florida.
Baker added his second goal of the night to give Florida a 4-2 lead on the Gladiators at 12:23 of the third period. Baker's shot deflected straight into the air and landed behind Fallon for the goal. Sweetland and Thelen each added their second assists of the night on the goal for the Everblades to put the game away.
Fallon finished with 23 saves in the loss for the Gladiators. Gwinnett went 2-for-7 on the power play while giving up one man advantage goal on six chances to the Everblades.
The Gladiators return to action on Wednesday, April 1st as they take on the Florida Everblades at the Germain Arena in Estero, FL at 7:30m p.m. Catch all the play by play action on WDUN
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