The Gladiators got on the board first, taking advantage of their first power play chance of the night, just over three minutes into the contest. Lou Dickenson netted his sixth goal in the last five games at the 3:04 mark of the first period. After Jamie Milam fired a slap shot from the top of the right wing circle, Andy Brandt gathered the rebound and flipped a pass to Dickenson who was waiting at the corner of the crease to jam it home. Milam and Brandt picked up helpers on the goal, which gave Gwinnett a 1-0 lead.
Gwinnett pushed their lead to two before the end of the first period on a power-play goal from Dickenson at the 15:35 mark of the first. Dickenson's shot from the corner of the crease, bounced around in front of the Augusta net before being knocked in by a Lynx player's skate. Dickenson got credit for the goal on the play while Jeff Campbell and Brandt picked up assists on the play.
The Gladiators added another goal less than a minute and a half later on Matt Anderson's ninth marker of the year. Skating through the slot, Tomas Pospisil took a shot on Augusta goalie Goepfert, but the puck bounced off the net-minder's skate and right to Anderson. Anderson then tucked the puck into the empty left side of the net for the Gwinnett marker. Pospisil and Mike Hamilton picked up assists on the goal.
Augusta answered late in the second period with an even-strength goal from Auffrey at the 14:59 mark of the period. From the edge of the right wing circle, Auffrey was able to clip the puck past a screen Craig Kowlaski for the Augusta goal. Matt Christie and Ken Scuderi got assists on the goal.
Neither team mustered any more scoring through the rest of the contest. The best chance that Augusta got came on an open look at the net in the middle of the third period when Kowlaksi couldn't get back into position after playing the puck behind his net. But Jeff Mason made a diving stop to keep the Gladiators up by the 3-1 final score.
Kowalski made 22 saves in the contest pushing his record to 21-6-0-2 on the season.
The Gladiators continue their fifth anniversary season on Friday, February 29th as they travel to Columbia to take on the Inferno at 7:05 p.m. at the Carolina Coliseum. Catch all the play-by-play action in Friday's game online via AccessNorthGa.com on Access Radio streaming channel 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.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/2/207312