The Gladiators did not lose any ground in the ECHL's south division however, as the South Carolina Sting Rays fell 3-1 to the Dayton Bombers.
After the game got off to a fast start in the first period, Charlotte drew first blood with an even-strength goal from Justin Maiser at the 7:18 point of the first period. Camped at the corner of the crease, Maiser collected a rebound and flicked the puck past a sprawling Craig Kowalski for the Charlotte marker. Lee Farlardeau and Kirk Dewaele picked up assists on the goal giving the Checkers the 1-0 lead.
Charlotte added another even strength goal at the 9:49 mark of the first period. Jared Nightingale fired a slap shot form the right wing point that slipped through traffic and past a screened Kowalski into the short side of the net. Kaleb Betts and Chris Capraro got assists on the goal as Charlotte took a 2-0 lead.
Less than four minutes later, the Checkers scored again, another even-strength goal at the 13:24 mark of the first. Farlardeau circling the Gwinnett net flicked a wrist shot at the Gwinnett net. Kowalski was able to knock is down, but couldn't hang on and DeWaele jammed home the rebound for the Charlotte marker to push the Checkers lead up to 3-0. Falardeau got the lone assist on the play.
It was more of the same for the Checkers in the second period of play with a power play goal from Maiser less than a half a minute into the middle stanza. After a hooking call on Gwinnett's Guillaume Besbiens right off the opening draw, Charlotte capitalized. Skating in front of the Gwinnett net, Jeff Kryzakos intercepted a Gladiator pass and fired a shot off Kowalski's pads. Maiser collected the rebound at the left corner of the crease and beat Kowalski to the stick side for the marker just 25 seconds into the second period.
The Gladiators finally got on the board at the 14:43 mark of the second period. With Charlotte on a 4-on-3 advantage, Mike Hamilton grabbed a loose puck and headed up the ice on a breakaway. Joe Grimaldi stepped out of the penalty box just as Hamilton crossed the Charlotte blue line, but Hamilton did the work himself, faking left and right before finally beating Charlotte netminder Bolt for the Gladiators' first marker. The goal, Hamilton's eighteenth of the season was unassisted.
Gwinnet struck again about two minutes later with an even-strength goal from Chad Denny at the 16:45 mark of the period. Tomas Pospisil, bringing the puck up the ice, dumped it off to Denny at the left wing point. Denny gathered the puck and fired a rocket that streaked past Holt's left shoulder for the Gwinnett marker, cutting the Charlotte lead to 2. Pospisil and Lou Dickenson got assists on the goal.
Chad Denny added his second goal of the night before the second period ended, an even strength marker at the 19:13 mark of the second period cutting the Checkers' lead to 4-3. After Denny's shot from the point rebounded off Holt, the Eskasoni First Nations, Nova Scotia native collected his own rebound and fired another slap shot that found its mark at the back of the net for the Gwinnett marker. Pospisil and Dickenson each picked up their second assist of the night.
The Gladiators tried to keep the momentum going from the end of the second period, firing 18 shots at the Holt in the Charlotte net, but could not get a puck across the goal line as the Checkers held on for the 4-3 win. Kowalski made 17 saves in the loss. Kowalski's record falls to 22-8-0-2 on the season.
The Gladiators continue their fifth anniversary season on Thursday, March 6th 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/2008/3/207675