Gwinnett got goals from seven different scorers in the contests as Jeff Campbell posted his 30th goal of the season and Guillaume Desbiens notched two markers in the win.
After returning from Lowell of the American Hockey League today, Campbell made his presence felt scoring the game's first goal on the power play for the Gladiators. Derek Nesbitt and Desbiens cycled the puck on the man advantage for the Gladiators to set up Campbell's marker, his 30th of the year, at the 12:13 mark of the opening period.
Gwinnett tied a team season record with five goals in the second period to take a 6-0 lead on the Checkers after two periods. Four of the five goals in the period came on the power play.
Desbiens scored first in the second period for Gwinnett collecting his 31st goal of the season ripping a snapshot over the shoulder of Glass. The power play marker came just 77 seconds into the period.
Gwinnett then took a 3-0 lead on Matt York's 9th goal of the season at the 8:48 mark of the second. Parked in the slot, York took a centering feed from Joel Stepp out of the corner, turned and ripped a snap shot past Glass for the goal.
Lane Manson's second goal of the season gave the Gladiators a 4-0 lead just 32 seconds after York's tally. Manson was able to intercept a clearing attempt and whip a wrist shot over the shoulder of Glass for the goal.
Scott Mifsud pushed the Gladiators lead to 5-0 at the 11:52 mark of the second period roofing a loose puck past Glass and chasing the netminder from the contest. The power play goal came as a 5-on-3 power play expired for Gwinnett. Jeff Dwyer and York collected the assist on the marker.
Gwinnett rounded out the second period scoring at the 18:32 mark with another power play goal. Jon Awe beat the new Charlotte netminder Chris Holt on a slap shot from point for the goal. Schell had his second assist of the game on the tally for the Gladiators.
Charlotte got on the board in the third period as Dusty Jamieson was able to bounce a loose puck in the slot past Sean Fields to snap the netminder's shutout bid at the 6:57 into third period. Bryan Rodney and Peter Worrell collected the assists on the goal.
Gwinnett regained the six-goal advantage on Desbiens' second goal of the contest at the 7:57 mark of the third period. Campbell and Schell hooked up to set up Desbiens in the slot for the marker.
Brian Teixeira rounded out the scoring for the Gladiators at the 11:41 mark of the final period ripping a snap shot off the shoulder of Holt for his 3rd goal of the season. Awe collected an assist on the goal for Gwinnett.
Sean Fields picked up his 29th victory of the season making 31 saves for Gwinnett as he added to his franchise record for wins.
ECHL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
GWINNETT 1 5 2 8
CHARLOTTE 0 0 1 1 FINAL
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: GWN - (PP) JEFF CAMPBELL 28 (DEREK NESBITT, GUILLAUME
DESBIENS) 12:13
2ND PRD: GWN - (PP) GUILLAUME DESBIENS 31 (JON AWE, JEFF CAMPBELL)
1:22
GWN - LANE MANSON 2 (DEREK NESBITT) 9:52
GWN - JEFF CAMPBELL 29 (UNASSISTED) 11:52
GWN - DEREK NESBITT 23 (GUILLAUME DESBIENS) 11:57
GWN - (PP) JON AWE 13 (BRAD SCHELL) 18:32
3RD PRD: CHA - DUSTY JAMIESON 30 (BRYAN RODNEY, PETER WORRELL) 8:30
GWN - GUILLAUME DESBIENS 32 (JEFF CAMPBELL) 9:57
GWN - BRIAN TEIXEIRA 3 (JON AWE) 11:41
The Gwinnett Gladiators, who have already clinched a 2006 Kelly Cup Playoff berth, continue the 2005-06 ECHL season at the Arena at Gwinnett Center on Friday, March 24th as they host the Pensacola Ice Pilots at 7:35 p.m. The Gladiators offer several ticket packages for different needs as well as group outings, suites and birthday parties. For more information call 770-497-5100 or log on to gwinnettgladiators.com.
The Gladiators play all 36 home games at the Arena at Gwinnett Center located on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth and are the AA affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/3/113920