Augusta scored first in the contest, netting an even strength goal in the first minute of the contest. Ryan Dingle took a pass at the blue line and walked through Gwinnett's defense, beating Gwinnett goaltender Craig Kowalski stick side for the marker. Jason Platt got the assist on the Augusta goal coming at the 47 second mark of the first period.
The Gladiators answered just two minutes later with an even-strength goal of their own. Tomas Pospisil notched his seventh goal of the season at the 2:47 mark of the contest. Circling the Augusta net, Pospisil took a centering feed from Mike Hamilton, collecting the puck at the right slot and beating Augusta's goalie Goepfert for the marker. Hamilton and Stuart MacRae got assists on the goal.
The Lynx retook the lead less than two minutes later. Chase Watson notched the marker for Augusta at the 4:21 point of the first period. Watson circled the net and caught Kowalski out of position, slipping the puck past the Gwinnett net-minder and into the open net. Garrett Winder and Ken Scuderi collected assists on the goal.
Augusta pushed their lead to two at the 12:07 mark of the first period. Matt Auffrey tallied the power play marker for the Lynx. Auffrey, skating through the right wing circle, took a sharply angled shot that snuck through Kowalski's arms and found the net. Assists on the goal went to Adrian Veideman and Matt Christie.
Less than a minute later, the Lynx added another goal to make their lead 4-1. James Brannigan notched the goal for the Lynx beating Kowalski five-hole and chasing the Gwinnett goaltender from the game in favor of Dan Turple. Chase Watson and Eric Lundberg picked up the assists on the goal for August.
Gwinnett closed the gap somewhat at the 14:21 point of the period with a power play goal from Jimmy Jackson. Jeff Campbell sent a shot wide and caroming off the boards behind the Augusta net. Jackson, waiting in the slot, corralled the puck and flipped it into the empty net for the marker, his eighth of the season and his fiftieth of his Gwinnett career. Jeff Campbell as well as Jamie Milam picked up helpers on the goal.
The Gladiators pulled within one in the final minute of the first stanza with an even-strength goal from Lou Dickenson. Dickenson put himself in the right place at the right time taming a rebound from a shot by Andy Brandt and jamming it home for the marker at the 19:41 point of the first period. Brandt and Hamilton picked up helpers on the goal, Dickenson's team-best 19th of the season. It was Hamilton's second assist of the game.
Augusta got their lead back to two with a goal from Watson at the 2:50 mark of the second period. Cutting across the front of the net, Watson flicked the puck up and over Dan Turple's outstretched glove for the Augusta marker. Ken Scuderi and James Brannigan both picked up assists on the goal.
Gwinnett answered back just over a minute later with a goal from Mike Hamilton. After a shot wide of the mark bounced around the boards, Hamilton picked up the rebound in the right wing circle and took a bad-angle shot that snuck under the crossbar for the marker at the 4:05 mark of the second period. Tomas Pospisil and Jimmy Jackson picked up the assists on the goal, Hamilton's 13th of the year.
Matt Auffrey pushed the Augusta lead back to two with an unassisted goal at the 11:36 mark. Stealing a puck at coming across the blue line, Auffrey walked his way through the Gwinnett defense and took advantage of a screened goal for the even-strength marker for the Lynx.
Once again, the Gladiators answered back just over a minute later. At the 12:56 point in the second, Jaff Campbell tipped a Lou Dickenson shot into the Augusta net for the even-strength marker. Dickenson and Mike Hamilton both picked up helpers on the goal giving them each a passel of points on the night.
Once more, the Lynx struck first in the period, notching a goal at the 4:26 mark of the third stanza. It was Bobby Bolt with the power play marker. Bolt collected a rebound that squirted free from Turple and beat the Gladiator net-minder for the Augusta marker. Veideman and Brian Yandle both tallied assists on the goal for the Lynx.
Augusta pushed its lead to 8-5 with a shorthanded goal from Matt Christie at the 9:38 mark of the third period. With Augusta getting one man back from a two-man disadvantage, Christie intercepted a pass at the Augusta blueline, took it the length of the ice and beat Turple for the marker.
Gwinnett answered less than a minute later with a Jimmy Jackson's second goal of the contest. A Jackson slap from the right wing circle found its way through a forest of players in front of the Augusta net and beat Goepfert to cut the Augusta lead to two at the 10:18 point of the third. Bryson Busniuk and Ryan Mahrle registered assists on the goal.
The Gladiators were not able to clamber back into the game and Augusta held on for the 8-6 win. Craig Kowalski made 8 saves on 12 shots and Dan Turple made 19 saves in the loss as his record dropped to 11-5-2-1 on the season. With the loss, the Gladiators drop to 25-12-2-2 overall on the season.
The Gladiators continue their fifth anniversary season on Friday, February 1st as they travel to South Carolina to take on the Stingrays at the North Charleston Coliseum at 7:05 p.m. Catch all the play-by-play action in Friday's game via AccessRadio on AccessNorthGa.com.
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.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/1/206324